The Bajorans have been a staple of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 since the launch of the show and we have not seen much from them in the way of spacecraft until the 8th anniversary of Star Trek Online, which introduced the ship we will review today: the Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor [T6].
The Denorios-class may be called an “interceptor” but its modern incarnation is a modified escort in the game. It’s fairly small, turns quickly and moves swiftly, but it also has an extremely heavy forward-facing loadout with five weapons up front and two in back.
Cryptic Studios, the developer of STO, gave us this ship for free after playing a few weeks’ worth of minigames for Q across the galaxy so it could be the first T6 ship a lot of newer players might get. As a free ship, it’s extremely decent and even comes with its own mastery trait.
In this review, readers will find out how to get this ship, its vital stats and other information, advice on how to outfit it with the equipment available in STO and get some idea of how it stacks up against other starships available to captains across the quadrants.
The Denorios-class can also be picked up by any captain irrespective of faction meaning that Federation, Klingons and Romulans who participated in the 8th Anniversary event could fly this ship—but they will need to be at least level 40.
Acquisition
As mentioned above, the Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor is the reward for STO players participating in the Star Trek Online 8th Anniversary event. This event started on January 23rd and ended February 22nd. Participation during this event was mandatory to receive this ship.
Previous years’ anniversary reward ships have been added slowly to the Phoenix Prize Pack in STO. So, if players missed their chance this year, eventually they will be given the chance to retrieve it again from one of these future packs.
Aesthetics
As an interceptor, the Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor is designed for operations both in atmosphere and vacuum. As a result, it looks somewhat like a truncated fighter plane with large wings and central fuselage with its wrap nacelles and thrusters in the back. It is described as an older Bajoran model that has been updated with Federation technology that is currently being phased out.
Congratulations Star Trek Online players, we’re getting hand-me-downs for our freebie ship this year.
Aesthetically, it feels a lot like an old-time aircraft in an era where warp-capable spacecraft and fighters are built on totally different design principals. However, its call-back to fighter jets seems on par with its role as an interceptor so its looks suit these expectations.
The hull material on the Denorios-class gives it a dull brown appearance, much in the way of a sort of earth or bronze tone, and it appears almost as if its welded together from clapped-on iron bands. The entire chassis seems to be segmented, with various panels and potentially instrumentation or heat sinks exposed that appear yellowish.
The Denorios-class did not come with its own special bridge, our reviewers discovered; instead, it uses a standard bridge.
Handling
As a free ship, our reviewers did not approach the Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor expecting it to be a stand-out of its kind, but as an escort it serves its purpose well. It also delivers with heavier-than-average Science bridge officer layout and consoles so it’s quite capable of holding its own with exotic damage and control – but where it can get really interesting is the two Pilot hybrid seats that it possesses.
The kit for the Denorios-class is pretty standard for an escort, but it does provide two hybrid seats including a Lieutenant Commander Tactical-Pilot and a Lieutenant Universal-Pilot. For sheer offensive capability, there is a Commander Tactical backed up with a Lieutenant Commander Science (just enough for Gravity Well).
This leaves little room for engineering, of course, and almost as an afterthought, there is an Ensign Engineering seat (assuming most captains don’t turn the Universal-Pilot into Engineering seating).
The Denorios-class is situated well for cannon-use because it has an extremely forward-heavy weapon layout with 5-fore and 2-aft. And, with +10 weapon power, +5 shield power and +5 engine power this ship works out alright when doing strafing runs against targets in an attempt to kill them before they kill it—or at least give it enough punch to make a strafing run and then come around for another pass.
The T6 mastery trait that comes with the Denorios-class is “Harrying Maneuvers.” When slotted, activating Emergency Power to Engines or a Pilot bridge officer skill adds a major boost to accuracy rating with bonuses to shield penetration and armor penetration. Additionally, weapon hits have a chance to chance to knock one random subsystem offline every second.
Hull Strength: 1.07 (32,100 at level 40, 36,915 at level 50 and 42,800 at level 60)
Shield Modifier: 1
Fore Weapons: 5
Aft Weapons: 2
Device Slots: 2
Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Commander Tactical/Pilot, 1 Commander Tactical, 1 Ensign Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Commander Science, 1 Lieutenant Universal/Pilot
Console Modifications: 4 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 4 Science
Base Turn Rate: 18 degrees/second
Impulse Modifier: 0.2
Inertia: 80
+10 Weapon Power, +5 Shield Power, +5 Engine Power
Experimental Weapon Slot: “Voice of the Prophets”
Can Equip Dual Cannons
Console – Universal – D.O.M.I.N.O.
Starship Mastery Package: Escort
Starship Trait: Harrying Maneuvers
The Denorios-class feels really fast and as an escort, it’s turn of 18 gives it just enough zip to get into the fray. This is important because the 5/2 weapon layout means that, in the case of a cannon build, it will spend a lot of time facing forward and time-on-target will become extremely important.
A real problem might manifest itself, however, when it comes to sustained firefights for this vessel because 42,800 hull points and a lack of Engineering consoles and bridge officer abilities to choose from could mean disaster. Captains without extra armor in slot might instead rely on Pilot abilities, traits or full throttle to stay out of harm’s way as a result. It’s shield modifier of 1 (and +5 shields) also gives it a little more protection while bearing down, but could leave it vulnerable in focused assaults.
Combining the 5/2 weapon layout and the D.O.M.I.N.O console (see below) gives this ship an inherently aggressive profile when it comes to approaching a firefight. Captains who choose to go with this console will most likely choose to dominate the battlefield by targeting weaker opponents in order to clear out hostiles.
The Bajor-themed set that also released alongside the Denorios-class (see below) also seems to thematically make the ship more of an aggressive brawler. A greater amount of time spent nearly colliding with other ships or flying through a cluster of enemies could greatly benefit the captain of this interceptor.
Furthermore, looking at the short-range AoE on the VotP experimental weapon would even benefit greatly from getting enemy ships to cluster close together while dogfighting. As a result, this ship tends to lean heavily towards AoE builds that could both put it in danger and allow a captain to quickly clear away weaker hulled craft while attempting to use its greater engine output to avoid larger, slower vessels.
Equipment
As Star Trek Online has evolved, so has the way that the developers present new ships to players. In fact, many ships not only come with their own passive capabilities, but many also come with their own special consoles and even weapons (in the case of escort “experimental weapons.”) The Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor also came alongside a featured episode that introduced a whole Bajor-themed space set, so that will be covered in this part of the review.
Foremost, as an escort, the Denorios-class comes with what is dubbed an “experimental weapon” that can be equipped into the slot of any other escort with such a slot available. In the case of the Denorios-class this weapon is called the “Voice of the Prophets” and it fires what looks a lot like a transparent waterdrop with a 6 second cooldown.
The Voice of the Prophets is described as a weapon that is repurposed mining machinery, used for harvesting resources from the Denorios belt repurposed as a weapon. The VotP packs quite a punch, inflicting physical damage on a single target and then emitting AoE physical damage to three additional targets within 2km.
The Denorios-class also unpacks out-of-the-box with a universal console named D.O.M.I.N.O. This stands for “Denorios Offensive Matrix and Invader Neutralization Overdrive.”
It adds a tray skill that when activated provides 10 seconds of 25 percent weapon firing cycle haste, 25 percent all bonus to all damage, 25 percent recharge speed on bridge officer abilities and 100 percent recharge rate on torpedo weapons. This duration can be increased by 2 seconds for each kill while active for a maximum of 20 more seconds. It also provides a passive 15 percent phaser damage and +20 accuracy rating.
The Denorios-class entered into STO’s ecosystem along with a featured episode that also added a full Bajor-themed space set and the ship itself brings with it a Bajor Defense Hyper Injection Warp Core (or Bajor Defense Hyper Injection Singularity Core for Romulans, although the ship can only equip warp cores).
The BDHI warp core increases engine power by +5 and the singularity core provides +5 to +15 based on singularity charge. It also possesses a secondary effect that creates an energy drain field around the ship while it is in combat called an Energy Siphon Field.
Playing the featured episode “Scylla and Charybdis” will reward the rest of the Bajor Defense set, including the Bajor Defense Covariant Shield Array, Bajor Defense Deflector Array and the Bajor Defense Hyper-Impulse Engines. The shield array adds a passive effect where if a shield facing goes offline it releases a cone-AoE plasma damage field that strikes foes within 2.5km; the deflector array causes enemies affected by a control effect to lose 9.1 percent outgoing weapon damage; and the engines add a kinetic PBAoE damage where the ship “scrapes” foes within 0.6km.
Possessing two pieces of this set increases phaser, disruptor and plasma damage by 17.8 percent, three pieces extends the range of the Energy Siphon Field to 5km and the range of Coronal Ejection to 5km, and four pieces adds a debuff to the siphon of 33 percent and 15 damage resistance that is transferred to the player as a turn rate buff and resistance buff.
Build Advice
The Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor provides a lot of room for versatility in approach with its split between tactical and science on the bridge—but what really makes it a strange beast is the hybrid Pilot seats (especially as one of them is also Universal).
The presence of a Lieutenant Science means most captains will be tempted to throw in Gravity Well I in order to take advantage of clustering enemies together. As mentioned, the Voice of the Prophets experimental weapon can hit up to four enemies if clustered within 2km of each other and additionally sufficient science coupled with energy weapon abilities could allow this ship to make short work of swarms of weaker foes.
It feels like Cryptic may be really pushing captains towards the role of a rapidly-moving ship that looks to pick off weaker opponents with the D.O.M.I.N.O. universal console (and its extendable-by-kill buff duration). Moreover, the Bajor-themed space set when put onto this ship gives plenty of reasons to be scraping shields with clusters of enemies to add even more potential PBAoE damage–not to mention that the passive from the space set would also buff that cone plasma AoE from the shields should a facing go down.
These mechanical decisions would make the Denorios-class very much a daredevil ship when played as an extremely aggressive interceptor. Utilizing AoE and single-target tactical abilities to give it enough firepower to keep the D.O.M.I.N.O. buff active could also make it a target for a lot more enemies than it might be able to handle.
Alternatively, the science leaning in this ship could be used for an exotic-damage build once again utilizing Gravity Well I in order to entangle targets and get them into yet more AoE. Coupled with things like Destabilizing Resonance Beam (which can hit targets in a 3km sphere), the VotP experimental weapon and Beam: Fire at Will could be used to impressive effect.
The presence of the Pilot hybrid seats also means that captains could take advantage of little gimmicks that come from that skill set. For example, getting in and hitting hard is already something this vessel does extremely well; but getting away might be another matter. Between Clean Getaway and Subspace Boom there might be some strange synergies for getting into and out of scrapes (literal and otherwise). Plus, the heal from Hold Together could come in useful when making an attack run.
With all of this focus on getting the Denorios-class into those scrapes, a little bit of Coolant Ignition to light up the night and bring the heat could make for some fun dogfighting.
The biggest problem for the Pilot hybrid seats comes from a question of what more traditional officer ability to drop out of the build to accommodate.
Finally, is figuring out what to do with the Ensign Engineering bridge officer seat—it’s just hanging there. For captains who take the T6 trait, it’s potentially a place to put Emergency Power to Engines or for the more science builds it could be an Emergency Power to Auxiliary. Of course, Emergency Power to Shields can help with surviving escapes.
Hv4c says,
“This interceptor certainly seems to live up to the name. Taking ‘a good defense is a good offense’ to heart, the Denorios-class intends to either outrun or outgun anything that stands in its way.
“With the pilot bridge officer options, as well as a lieutenant commander science slot, I don’t think this will be an escort on the short side of damage. Gravity well and the experimental weapon that comes with the ship, combined with dual heavy cannons using scatter volley, or some sort of beam weapon with fire at will, seems to present a great free option for ‘all the AoE’.
“Pilot abilities, such as lock trajectory, with the five forward weapons, also seem the present a second valid build option for deciding to make a single target’s life rather short.
“Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong, as the offensive options for the Interceptor are pretty wide, for an escort. The trait innate to the vessel further presses the damage capabilities, but not quite as much as the universal console. The D.O.M.I.N.O. Console, granting increased all damage, weapon firing cycle, recharge speed for bridge officer abilities, as well as potentially increasing the duration from ten seconds all the way up to a maximum of 30, will support any build option that goes for damage.
“In the end, I think it comes down to survivability. All the AoE damage isn’t worth much when it just ends up getting you killed. With only three engineering abilities at most, defensive options are limited, making target selection and control of the threat you draw to yourself paramount. The ‘Thunderdome’ mindset if far easier to maintain when you only have to kill one thing at a time.”
Cynicman says,
“The Bajoran interceptor’s 5/2 weapons layout and Commander Tactical and Lt.Cmdr. Tactical/Pilot seat allows it to use just about any weapons loadout.
“If you want to take advantage of the D.O.M.I.N.O. console, you’ll want to use phasers and a torpedo, so either the bio-molecular or quantum phase sets are best and the bridge officer abilities appropriate if you want to use cannons or beams. The ship looks like it has enough science (boff and consoles) to do an okay drain build if equipped with polarons and drain Sci abilities, or you could go with some Particle Generators and use Gravity Well and weapons with radiation effects like withering disruptor for example.
“Engineering is extremely limited and you are probably using the Lt. Universal as an Engineering boff as well. Emergency Power abilities are probably best with Weapons and either Shields or Engines (if you want to take advantage of the mastery trait) along with an Engineering Team. You could drop the Eng. Team and use Hold Together in the Pilot seating if you wanted to use Reverse Shield Polarity or a Structural Integrity Collapse.
“Beyond that, I personally do not know the Pilot Abilities well enough to judge their use on this ship. It’s a decent escort with diverse loadout possibilities.”
Conclusion
Looking at this ship, it’s hard not to look a free ship in the intake manifold—in the end, it looks like this is a solid T6 escort with its own, although mediocre, showing as a vessel of its class. Therefore, we conclude that the Bajoran Denorios-class Interceptor is a perfectly solid workhorse of an escort and decent to add to the stable of any captain.
Captains who ground out the 8th Anniversary event and received this ship now have a fairly well-rounded Pilot-based escort added to their inventory; and, assuming they want to also play through the “Scylla and Charybdis” episode, will also have the Bajor Defense set meaning that they can try that out at their leisure.
The Denorios-class supports a lot of potential Pilot abilities alongside more than sufficient science and tactical to build a fairly interesting outlay of different abilities when flying at top speed. Of course, as we’ve mentioned in this review: that greased lighting will be rushing into the midst of serious peril—but we also expect that most escort pilots are already used to flying by the seat of their pants.
To the captains out there who decide to stick with the Denorios-class beyond grabbing the T6 trait, we say: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
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