The introduction of the Undine to Star Trek Online also meant the addition of a few of their ships. Amid them, the Nicor Bio-Warship is a new lock box ship (STO: Season 9 Dev Blog #18) and the Dromias Bio-Cruiser is a lobi store vessel. This review will focus on the smaller, heavily-armed-but-durable Nicor.
Any STO captain looking for a fairly solid low-rent escort with cruiser durability with an exotic aesthetic should take a peek at the Nicor. As a ship, it packs a significant amount of firepower, has a hairpin-tight turning radius, and a fair amount of resilience in a firefight. The addition of a Death Star murderbeam doesn’t hurt either.
Acquisition
As rare drop from the Undine lock box, the Nicor is either acquired through luck or by buying it from someone who had one drop. Right now the vessel runs around 150 million Energy Credits (EC) on the Exchange.
So far, the best way in the game to make EC from dollars it to buy Master Keys (for around $1.25 in the C-Store) and turn them into EC. As Master Keys are currently running at around 2.5 million EC—their prices can get somewhat volatile so this is just guessing at current market—it could end up costing as much as $75. Carefully timing buys of ZEN and watching the market could pull that price down significantly, but this ballpark is not uncommon for lockbox ships.
Also as a lock box ship, the Nicor is cross-faction so both Klingon and Federation (or allied Romulans) can captain this vessel.
Aesthetics
The Nicor Bio-Warship comes with two costumes: the standard Nicor and the Dactylus. The standard Nicor displays the well-known hallmarks of Undine ships with an organic-looking hull, greenish and brown markings, as well as claw-like protrusions that extend outwards on one end like fins, and to the fore-and-aft with pincer-like extensions. The Dactylus expands on this with extra spines, longer fins towards the fore section, and essentially reverses the Nicor’s “front-and-back” look.
In many ways, the Nicor looks like an ocean parasite that bores through fish in order to consume their juices; whereas the Dactylus has an appearance more like a branch of deep sea coral.
The bridge of the ship continues the bio-organic aesthetic of the outside of the ship and consists of one room–fitting to the knowledge that Nicor are thought to be piloted by one one telepathic Undine captain. To better accommodate Federation or Klingon captains, the ship has been outfitted with more standard technology, but BOFFs still stand around mesmerized, waving tricorders are horrible prominences of what-is-that organs. (Note: There are even organic “consoles” on the ceiling.)
The front of the bridge is dominated by a viewscreen and an area that looks like a lot of tubes–perhaps veins and arteries–leading to yet another organic mass.
At least everything is in one room for easy access–even if you don’t want to actually touch anything.
Handling
The handling review of a ship in Star Trek Online is broken up into three parts: maneuverability, armament, and armor. As with most lock box and lobi ships, the Nicor has a strong console layout, a universal bridge officer slot, but also comes with a special console that delivers a massive Death Star beam. The combination of speed (+5 engine power) and firepower (+10 weapons power) with a fairly solid hull and innate healing make the Nicor a ship that can both dish it out and take it in return.
Hull Strength: 34,500
Shield Modifier: 1.0
Crew: 250
Weapons: 4 Fore, 4 Aft
Device Slots: 3
Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Commander Tactical, 1 Lieutenant Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Commander Science, 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal
Console Modifications: 5 Tactical, 2 Engineering, 3 Science
Base Turn Rate: 14 degrees per second
Impulse Modifier: 0.2
+10 Weapon Power and +5 Engine Power
Can Equip Dual Cannons
Console – Universal – Fluidic Energy Focusing Array
Improved Hull Regeneration
The Nicor works with the nimble speed of a destroyer class ship providing it with a very fast time on target. With the +5 engine power and a turn rate of 14, it can snap-to with ease–as a result it can bring cannons to bear or beams to broadside with a ready joy. However, it’s still a bit below the twirling-pirouette of solid escorts and raiders—however, as a destroyer it is closer to the fast side.
When it comes down to being able to take a beating, the Nicor is thoroughly resilient. With a hull of 34,000, a shield modifier of 1.0, and innate hull repair, this ship can soak a lot of incoming fire. Although with only 2 Engineering console slots (the Nicor has a strong Tactical console focus) players who want to increase survivability can still build off the Lt. Commander Universal BOFF station.
Armament is where the Nicor really begins to shine: 4/4 gun layout, dual cannon mounts, 5 Tactical consoles, +10 weapon power, and a Commander Tactical BOFF slot make this vessel into a force-of-nature. Include a low time-on-target with cannons or double beam banks and very little can withstand a front-arc alpha strike. Coupled with the speed and durability, the Nicor feels like a low-end cruiser with an escort bolted-on. As a result, it also flies well as a broadside beam-boat.
To top this all off, the Nicor comes with a special console that adds yet another big gun to its arsenal. The Console – Universal – Fluidic Energy Focusing Array. Activating the ability on this console calls in other Undine bioships to focus multiple beams into one giant Death Star beam that inflicts massive damage on a single target (with some apparent AoE splash damage.)
Build Advice
The BOFF layout of the Nicor is extremely rare and provides the ship a high latitude of role choices. With the Tactical Commander slot it can roll with Attack Pattern: Omega (for when getting away or getting around is paramount) while also being able to slot Gravity Well with the Science Lt. Commander slot. The inclusion of the Universal Lt. Commander opens a variety of choices for builds.
One role for a destroyer is to act as a front-line fast-attack vessel, which could be done with a primarily cannon-build coupled with maneuvering and Tactical abilities to increase front-facing DPS. Since the Nicor can load dual-heavy cannons, a cannon-rapid-fire build can be made to work for an extremely aggressive approach.
Since the destroyer has a 4/4 gun layout, it can also take the role of a very swift beam destroyer, using the additional engine power to keep the broadside on target while putting pressure on opponents. Beam: Fire At Will combined with AP:O and Gravity Well would also make this a formidable field role for a multi-target damage build.
Due to the innate hull repair, the Nicor is already exceedingly resilient but some captains may want to trade some firepower for extra durability when expecting protracted engagements. Trading in an Engineer on the Universal BOFF does tend to make the Nicor a nigh indestructible opponent.
Also noting the Universal BOFF and the Lieutenant Engineering it is possible to run an exotic, fast-cooldown Auxiliary to Battery (Aux2Batt) build.
Conclusion
The Nicor Bio-Warship is a lockbox ship so getting one either involves a lot of luck (and burned keys) or buying one from the Exchange.
This ship behaves like a cruiser that moonlights as a low-rent escort. Heavy hull, slower speed compared to normal escorts; nice engineering bay, with heavy tactical focus. And, on top of that, just enough Sci BOFF seating to carry gravity well. The result: a fairly exciting ship with enough firepower to make a dent along with plenty of armor to survive return-fire from whatever does survive.
The addition of the Death Star muderbeam universal console (the Fluidic Energy Focusing Array) gives it a very fun click-to-destroy capability for burning down (or blowing up) single targets. Plus, the animation for triggering the Death Star beam is enjoyable to watch, well worth the console slot and the ship.
Add on the alien look to the ship’s hull profile and the two models (Nicor and Dactylus) it provides a unique ship for captains who want to stand out.
The Nicor Bio-Warship is a strong ship for an assault role—which is very important in STO where DPS is king—but it can also be outfit for survivability when high outgoing damage draws attention. Speed, durability, and withering firepower packaged into a weird, alien branching-coral warship make the Nicor a solid addition to any captain’s stable of starships.
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