Star Trek Online has 45 species that can be chosen by players, but which is the best in the game? We’ll be going over the top 5 in our article here! Like most things in the game, the best races are not absolutely critical in order to complete content, and it is perfectly viable to play anything you want because you like the species! So let’s boldly go and start with Number 5!
5. Human (Best for Tanking)
A classic but pretty handy to have around!
At Number 5 we have the Humans! Eternally the general, average, generic species in pretty much every game, humans in Star Trek Online have a very straight-forward but useful ability. In Space Combat, they give you a 30% bonus to subsystem repair and hull regeneration rate, and in Ground Combat, they give a 5% team exploit damage bonus.
What makes them useful is their subsystem repair and hull regeneration bonuses, since those are fairly difficult to stack without using expensive traits or skills. By combining it with some of the cheaper options out there (like using human bridge officers who also have the trait), you can get a reasonably high hull regeneration bonus.
Subsystem repair is also very handy in PVP or against enemies who use a lot of disables, since it reduces the time for those subsystems to come back online. The ground bonus, however, is pretty much worthless, making humans pretty average at
That said, they make excellent tank captains, and when combined with engineers, they can endure tremendous amounts of punishment in space combat.
Human details:Humans are a race originating from the planet Earth in the Sol System. They were one of the founding races thatcreated the United Federation of Planets, along with Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. In Star Trek Online they are a playable race belonging to the Federation faction.
Species trait: Humans are inspirational leaders and work exceptionally well with others. Their Leadership inspires their comrades to work harder and faster than they otherwise could, and their Teamwork allows them to exploit combat opportunities created by teammates to great effect.In Space: Increases Subsystem Repair and Hull Regen Rate in Space (30% in combat, 60% out of combat)
On Ground: Increases team exploit damage on Ground
What Humans Excel In:- Very powerful hull regeneration bonus for Space Combat that makes them a natural pick for tanking roles.
- Subsystem repair makes them very resilient to disable attacks which is good both for PVP and general content.
- Can take full advantage of Human bridge officers who also come with the trait to get up to 100% bonus hull regeneration and subsystem repair!
- You like playing as a Human being in other games!
- You enjoy a tanking-centered role (though this is still useful even for DPS ships, so don’t feel limited).
- You want to be able to PVP and PVE equally well.
4. Liberated Borg Human (Best for Support)
Note: does not come with your own drone army.
Liberated Borg were an option that was frequently requested in the early days of Star Trek Online, and when it was finally given, it proved to be quite powerful in that time period. While its power has diminished due to the presence of other competing traits and abilities, it’s still very good for people who have access to it.
A quick note on the Borg is that they are only available to people with a Lifetime Subscription to Star Trek Online. I hesitated to include them due to this, but they’re good enough that I felt it would be unwise to dismiss them as an option for players with more discretionary spending ability.The Liberated Borg comes with a Space Combat bonus of +30 to Warp Core Efficiency, meaning that you get additional power levels naturally by simply having this as your captain. The old days had power being extremely difficult to come by, whereas in the modern age, power levels are easier to max out. It’s still something you want to do, and given that maxing it out can be costly in game currency, this can be a useful option to bridgethe gap.
The ground bonuses it comes with is also very useful, giving you both health and shield regeneration increases. In a few ways, the Liberated Borg strikes a better balance at Space and Ground than Humans.Unfortunately, you can’t quite recreate Seven of Nine in the sense of having a mostly normal-looking character. If you’re a fan of the implants and the pasty skin, this is your pick!
Liberated Borg details:Liberated Borg (also known as xBs) are former Borg drones who have been freed from the Collective. Their original race, prior to assimilation, may have varied by species but they are unified through the experience of being absorbed into the Borg, complete with mental and physical scars from the trauma.
Species trait: You are a former Borg drone, now freed from your connection to the Collective. You retain the rigid efficiency and internal metabolism of a Borg drone, giving your systems extra efficiency in space and your body extra regeneration and resilience on the ground.In Space: +30 Starship Warp Core Efficiency
On Ground: +10% Health Regeneration/+6% Shield Regeneration
What Liberated Borg Excels In:- An excellent pick for any captain who wants that added power bonus, but especially good for Science captains who need the juice for their abilities.
- Tanky in Ground Combat with a large degree of innate durability.
- Customization options combine well with any of the unlocked costumes.
- You loved Seven of Nine as a character and want to follow in her footsteps!
- Enjoy playing a more support oriented role or a “caster” class via the Science captain career.
- Want a tanky set of traits for Ground Combat - Resistance is Futile.
3. Jem’Hadar Vanguard (Best for DPS)
Victory is dependent upon skill of the player!
The mighty Jem’Hadar Vanguard is an upgrade over the basic Jem’Hadar that Dominion players can access thanks to the Victory is Life! Expansion. With the upgraded version, you get a solid bonus to weapons damage, critical hit chance, and critical hit severity, while ground traits remain the same.
What makes this so good is the bonus weapon damage as a space trait! Bonus damage works by more or less bypassing the diminishing returns of “increased weapons damage”, ensuring that a 20% bonus is an actual 20% bonus, not 2% because of previous stacking effects.Having this on a captain means that right out of the gate, you’re doing more damage than the average player!
The ground trait is useful by giving you the Shroud (cloak) ability as well as identical bonuses as the space trait. This makes the Vanguard the best at DPS for the Dominion and most factions.Jem’Hadar Vanguard details:
The Jem'Hadar Vanguard are a version of Jem'Hadar specially bred on the orders of Odo. They are a premium race requiring purchase in the Zen Store for 600Zen small icon.png or as part of the Gamma Vanguard Starter Pack or Gamma Vanguard Pack. Like normal Jem'Hadar, Jem'Hadar Vanguard characters start at level 60.
Species traits: Jem'Hadar: soldiers were designed purely for combat, and are highly capable combatants in a multitude of environments. Their intense combat training has made them incredibly effective at defeating their opponents through superior offensive capabilities.Ground: Bonus Damage for Ranged Weapons and Melee attacks, Critical Chance and Critical Severity.
Space: Bonus Damage, Critical Chance and Critical Severity.
Shroud: Allows you to briefly cloak and increase the damage of your next attack. The stealth and damage bonus expire when you attack, or when the duration time runs out.
What Jem’Hadar Vanguard Excels In:- Among the best DPS species in the game, with identical bonuses in space and on ground.
- Has the Shroud ability, letting you naturally cloak without having to use a kit module when on ground.
- DPS bonus is the best bonus to have, as it bypasses diminishing returns.
- You enjoyed the Dominion in DS9 and liked Odo as a character!
- You want to play a DPS captain that has solid skills on both ground and in space.
- Like the idea of having a character with a built in cloaking device in ground combat.
2. Joined Trill (Best For Support/DPS)
Alas, no inner voice of wisdom to guide you on your path.
Trill joined together conjure up images of Jazdia and Ezri Dax—beings with symbionts and the science to back it up.The Joined Trill in Star Trek Online certainly brings it to the forefront, with fantastic bonuses both in space and on the ground!
They get a series of major bonuses for the following: energy weapon training; projectile weapon training; shield restoration; hull restoration; damage control; exotic particle generator; control expertise; and drain expertise. As you can see, it’s a huge spread with a focus on the more science-oriented abilities.
They also get a bonus in ground combat! Health regeneration, radiation damage resistance, and toxic damage resistance are all increased, which is useful against certain types of ground enemies.
This makes them actually better, overall, than the Liberated Borg species, as their bonus skill points are spread across a large number of always-useful abilities. Trill are fantastic Science captains, easily able to use the full spectrum of bonuses to maximize their support or DPS.
Joined Trill details:Joined Trill are symbiotic lifeforms and are native to their home world Trill. Trill is a playable race in Star Trek Online for the Federation and Klingon Empire once unlocked in the Zen Store. The Trill 'host' is very similar to a Human except for their spots, which are mostly seen on the sides of their heads. These spots run from their heads down their shoulders and carry on down their torso and legs to their feet.
Species trait: Joined Trill have access to the skills and memories of all of the previous hosts of the joined symbiote. The memories of your symbiote improve your abilities in a wide range of starship skills. Trill have naturally fast metabolisms which also increase regeneration, as well as providing resistance to Radiation and Toxic Damage.On Ground: Hyper Metabolism. Bonus Regeneration, Bonus Radiation and Toxic Damage Resist.
+10% Health regeneration
+24.6% Radiation damage resistance
+24.6% Toxic damage resistance
In Space: Joined Symbiote. Bonus Skill points.
+3 Energy Weapon Training
+3 Projectile Weapon Training
+3 Shield Restoration
+3 Hull Restoration
+3 Hull Regeneration
+7 Exotic Particle Generator
+9 Control Expertise
+9 Drain Expertise
What Joined Trill Excels In:- High spread of skill bonuses that are useful for any career choice.
- Excellent bonus to science powers, making this a great choice for people looking to go into Space Magic builds!
- Ground Combat bonuses are useful with the high regeneration trait letting them act as an off-tank.
- You loved the characters of Jazdia and Ezri Dax.
- You want a character that has a solid spread of utility options.
- You want to be able to use a Joined Trill as a KDF or Federation player.
1. Romulan Republic Alien (Best For Everything)
For when you want MAXIMUM creative options!
Aliens in Star Trek Online take a unique position. Unlike everyone else, they do not have a fixed set of traits and instead are able to select from a broad list of traits that are generally available to most factions. However, depending on the faction you create your alien with, the trait list is different.
So why the Romulans? Because the Romulans give you access to Romulan Operatives, which gives you increased critical strike chance and severity, and reduces the time required for recloaking.
What makes this so good? Well, besides bonus damage, critical strike chance is the most important DPS stacking stat in the entire game. Romulan Operatives, specifically the bridge officer variant, have long been used to increase this stat past the necessary 50% mark in order to reach the higher end of DPS metrics.
Starting with a Romulan Alien captain that has this built, it gets you going on that race earlier than you normally would, which is very handy. The extra slot option also lets you switch up how you build your character, so you can adapt them to tank, DPS, or heal.
All in all, it’s the best species in Star Trek Online by a large margin.
Romulan Republic Alien details:The term Alien is used in Star Trek Online to globally define the customizable species for Starfleet, DSC Starfleet, the KDF and the Romulan Republic. These species are playable, but due to how involved the character creator is it is unlikely two people will create identical aliens unless they share their settings. Some players may be familiar with calling them Klingon Aliengens or Unknowns due to these being their previously used names during the game's beta stages.
Species trait: Your created species has enhanced flexibility in trait selection. You do not have any required traits;instead, you gain one additional choice of traits.+2 Additional Personal Trait Slots (1 for ground, 1 for space)
What Romulan Republic Alien Excels In:- Aliens are both the most versatile species in the game and the most powerful, thanks to the bonuses they get under the Romulan faction.
- They can select extremely powerful traits to maximize DPS that other species (outside of Romulans themselves) are unable to access.
- Aliens can switch out their traits at any point, letting you swiftly rebuild your character to suit literally any task in the game!
- You want to have access to a huge variety of options in the character creator!
- You enjoy creating new builds and want something with added flexibility.
- You like having access off the bat to the Romulan Warbirds, a powerful ship type with built-in cloaks (see my top 15 STO ships article!)
- You like one of the other races but want access to the best traits you can get. The character creator lets you get almost exactly the same visual results as any species in the game, with a handful of exceptions. This means you can make a “human” that has all of the Alien’s traits!
See you on the other side, Captains!
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