As we reported yesterday, both Producer Daniel Stahl and Cryptic's Jack Emmert recently confirmed that Klingons will be focused almost entirely on PvP in Star Trek Online. Emmert also said that December was supposed to be Klingon month, and it looks like he wasn't kidding.

Cryptic just posted an informative article on Klingon gameplay and announced that the next Ask Cryptic segment will focus solely on Klingons. You can read the article after the jump and submit your Ask Cryptic questions in this thread on the official forums.

The Klingon article provides details about the various types of PvP scenarios that will be available in Star Trek Online and confirms that Federation players can also reach the rank of Admiral solely through PvP. Klingon characters won't be available when you first start the game, but can be unlocked after about five hours of gameplay.

Klingon gameplay is one of Star Trek Online’s most unique features. It exists as an additional advancement path for players, and offers different gameplay options to players more interested in player-vs.-player combat.

Players will be able to create a Klingon character after they unlock the first sector block of Federation content, about five hours into the game. Their Klingon character will begin at a rank approximately equal to the Federation character that unlocked the content.

Klingon Captains have the same number of skills available as their Federation counterparts, including the same professions. Your Klingon Captain can be a Science, Engineering or Tactical officer. However, they must advance through PvP, as they will not have access to the same amount of player-vs.-environment content as Federation players at launch.

That’s not to say Klingons won’t be a robust faction. While they are PvP-focused, PvP in Star Trek Online is something we designed from the ground up to be a viable advancement path, meaning both Klingon and Federation players can reach a rank of Admiral solely through PvP. Players can engage in team vs. team, Federation vs. Klingon, Klingon vs. Klingon and Federation vs. Federation combat. What’s more, certain PvP maps will have PvE objectives over which opposing players can struggle.

There are a number of different types of PvP scenarios available.

• Challenges allow two teams to square off in a private instance created for them on-the-fly.
• Arena maps are team-vs.-team matchups in instances, played either by teams that challenge one another, or by randomly-assigned teams created via a global queue system.
• Scenarios feature objective-oriented gameplay like Assault and Area Control. The Assault scenario is straightforward: Move forces from your area to the opponents’, inflicting more casualties than you suffer. The Area Control scenario is more subtle: Capture key objectives and hold them longer than your opponents to win the day.
• War Zone maps are static maps that are always open for players to join. Both factions may enter this may enter this map, which has Open Mission-style PvE objectives to achieve, with the twist that members of opposing factions can hinder each other’s progress via PvP.



Klingons also progress through their ships in their own way. Rather than gaining access to a standard Cruiser, Escort or Science vessel, Klingons receive special variants of ships as they progress. As players achieve new ranks, new ships become available to them, like so:

Warrior
B’rel Bird of Prey – capable of cloaking in combat.

Lieutenant
Bird of Prey Mk. 1 – capable of cloaking in combat.

Lieutenant Commander
Bird of Prey Mk. 2 – capable of cloaking in combat.
Raptor Mk. 1 – similar to Federation Escorts.

Commander
Bird of Prey Mk. 3 – capable of cloaking in combat.
Raptor Mk. 2.
Battle Cruiser Mk. 1 – similar to Federation Cruisers, but feature more forward-facing guns.

Captain
Bird of Prey Mk. 4 – capable of cloaking in combat.
Raptor Mk. 3.
Battle Cruiser Mk. 2.

General
Bird of Prey Mk. 5 – capable of cloaking in combat.
Raptor Mk. 4.
Battle Cruiser Mk. 3
Carrier – a massive ship with multiple hangar bays capable of launching several smaller fighters.

In general, Klingon ships have more forward-facing weaponry than their Federation counterparts, and boast greater maneuverability. What’s more, Bridge Officer stations aren’t restricted by class, meaning Captains will be able to put any Bridge Officer they like into any station, regardless of their profession. In terms of ship customization, players will be able to alter the ship’s color and use several varying skins to change a ship’s look.