There are five main types of missions in Star Trek Online.
There are a lot of variations to each one but they all fall into these main categories: Exploration, Patrol, Securing the Sector, Fleet Actions and Episodes.
Keep reading to find out what the differences in Star Trek missions are and a few tips on completing them fast.
Exploration Missions Exploration missions are given to you by Lieutenant Grall who you can contact by clicking the Hail Starfleet button on your minimap, like all other quest givers.
He will often send you to explore some star system/cluster.
Most of the time you have to interact with an anomaly or a star system, and often there is no combat involved but rather a lot of scanning and environmental interaction.
If you stumble upon a star system within a star cluster you are set to explore it's likely you will get a random mission, and just keep exploring until you get bored.
These quests are usually very easy, and best of all repeatable.
They award a decent number of skill points but typically have a cool down before you can do them again.
Patrol & Defend Missions Patrol missions require you to visit a few star systems and report back, or defend a particular sector a few times against attackers.
Both types are fast and easy to do and often a great way to explore new sectors and get decent rewards.
They are level based so you won't be able to repeatedly grind them as exploration missions.
Securing the Sector Missions Secure the Sector missions typically require you to engage an enemy target (Enemy Signal Contact) in a particular system block a number of times.
It's best to do these missions with a group of players in which case it's very easy and fast.
They offer good amount of skill points considering how long they last and I recommend grinding them from time to time for much easier leveling.
Fleet Action Missions Fleet Action missions are similar to Secure the Sector since you also have to defend a sector against attackers, however they often include a ground combat component as well.
Fleet Action missions are a bit more difficult and you might want to find a group to complete them, especially the ground combat part.
They offer quite decent rewards and are often fun to do.
Episode Missions Episodes (sometimes referred to as campaign or storyline missions) are unique missions which are both interesting and fun, and I'm sure you will agree once you try.
Most of them include doing various thing such as space combat, beaming to planet surface and engaging in ground combat, scanning, beaming back to the ship with more space combat etc.
They aren't as long as it may seem (1 hour max, even much less) and often include a boss, which makes them a lot harder than other types of missions, but for that reason the rewards are outstanding.
You can though be automatically grouped with players on the same mission in which case they are much easier to complete.
Episodes move the STO story along, have great loot rewards and decent amount of skill points, they are actually fun to do and require a bit of strategy which is great.
The only downside is there is too little of them.
Which missions are best for leveling? It's the question that every Star Trek Online player asks.
I personally prefer doing all missions regardless or type, to add a bit of variety in the game.
Episode missions are great if you're looking for new equipment, and patrol missions are very easy.
If you really want to grind and level as fast as possible then exploration missions are absolutely best: they don't take long -- about 30-40 minutes, and award at least one third of skill points required for next level.
By repeatedly doing exploration mission you could easily gain a level in a couple of hours so if you don't mind doing the same quest over and over go for it.
There are a lot of variations to each one but they all fall into these main categories: Exploration, Patrol, Securing the Sector, Fleet Actions and Episodes.
Keep reading to find out what the differences in Star Trek missions are and a few tips on completing them fast.
Exploration Missions Exploration missions are given to you by Lieutenant Grall who you can contact by clicking the Hail Starfleet button on your minimap, like all other quest givers.
He will often send you to explore some star system/cluster.
Most of the time you have to interact with an anomaly or a star system, and often there is no combat involved but rather a lot of scanning and environmental interaction.
If you stumble upon a star system within a star cluster you are set to explore it's likely you will get a random mission, and just keep exploring until you get bored.
These quests are usually very easy, and best of all repeatable.
They award a decent number of skill points but typically have a cool down before you can do them again.
Patrol & Defend Missions Patrol missions require you to visit a few star systems and report back, or defend a particular sector a few times against attackers.
Both types are fast and easy to do and often a great way to explore new sectors and get decent rewards.
They are level based so you won't be able to repeatedly grind them as exploration missions.
Securing the Sector Missions Secure the Sector missions typically require you to engage an enemy target (Enemy Signal Contact) in a particular system block a number of times.
It's best to do these missions with a group of players in which case it's very easy and fast.
They offer good amount of skill points considering how long they last and I recommend grinding them from time to time for much easier leveling.
Fleet Action Missions Fleet Action missions are similar to Secure the Sector since you also have to defend a sector against attackers, however they often include a ground combat component as well.
Fleet Action missions are a bit more difficult and you might want to find a group to complete them, especially the ground combat part.
They offer quite decent rewards and are often fun to do.
Episode Missions Episodes (sometimes referred to as campaign or storyline missions) are unique missions which are both interesting and fun, and I'm sure you will agree once you try.
Most of them include doing various thing such as space combat, beaming to planet surface and engaging in ground combat, scanning, beaming back to the ship with more space combat etc.
They aren't as long as it may seem (1 hour max, even much less) and often include a boss, which makes them a lot harder than other types of missions, but for that reason the rewards are outstanding.
You can though be automatically grouped with players on the same mission in which case they are much easier to complete.
Episodes move the STO story along, have great loot rewards and decent amount of skill points, they are actually fun to do and require a bit of strategy which is great.
The only downside is there is too little of them.
Which missions are best for leveling? It's the question that every Star Trek Online player asks.
I personally prefer doing all missions regardless or type, to add a bit of variety in the game.
Episode missions are great if you're looking for new equipment, and patrol missions are very easy.
If you really want to grind and level as fast as possible then exploration missions are absolutely best: they don't take long -- about 30-40 minutes, and award at least one third of skill points required for next level.
By repeatedly doing exploration mission you could easily gain a level in a couple of hours so if you don't mind doing the same quest over and over go for it.