What is Synergy? And How Do You Use It?

What is Synergy ?

And How Do You Use It?

by CmdrBond

Figure 1: Original graphic sourced from startrekfleetcommand.com

Introduction

When placing a crew on your ship there are several things that can affect how the ship operates. One of these things is called synergy. Let’s explore what synergy is and how it can affect your ship.

 

The Bridge

Regardless of your ship level you will have a bridge with three officer slots where you can place officers. One of the bridge slots will be for the Captain (center) with two supporting officer slots on either side of the Captain slot (Figure 2). Each officer, in addition to their Attack, Defense, and Health stats (Figure 3), will have a Captain Maneuver (Figure 4) and an Officer Ability (Figure 5). The Captain Maneuver only becomes active when the officer is set as the Captain. The Officer Ability is only active when the Officer is on the bridge to include the Caption slot. Note: This means that the officer located in the Captain slot will have both the Captain Maneuver and the Officer Ability activated. Note: One example of an exception to this is when the Captain Maneuver only activates on specific ships. Make sure you check both the Captain Maneuver and Officer Ability details to ensure you understand when they will activate.

 

Figure 2: Ship Officer Slots

Figure 3: Officer Detail

Figure 4: Officer Detail - Captain Ability

Figure 5: Officer Detail - Officer Ability

 

Synergy

Each officer belongs to a group which contains one or more officers. You can see which group an officer belongs to on the Officer detail page (Figure 3). When you place two or more officers from the same group onto the bridge with one as Captain, they create synergy. When you have synergy, the supporting officer(s) will boost the Captain Maneuver of the Captain. Explained another way, let us say you have TOS Scotty from the TOS Enterprise Crew group set as the Captain. Then you place another officer from the TOS Enterprise Crew group as a supporting officer. When you do this, you will create synergy where the supporting officer will boost the Captain Maneuver of TOS Scotty (Figure 6). If you place another officer from the TOS Enterprise Crew group as a supporting officer then you can create additional synergy and thus an additional boost to the Captain Maneuver (Figure 6).

 

Synergy Examples

In the example in Figure 6, TOS Scotty’s Captain Maneuver is a Warp range increase of 4 when he is the Captain of an Explorer type ship. You can see that the supporting officers in Figure 6 are each adding “+3” to TOS Scotty’s Captain Maneuver for a total increase to the warp range of this ship by 10.

 

·         TOS Scotty’s Captain Maneuver + TOS Kirk synergy + TOS Bones synergy

·         4 + 3 + 3 = 10

Figure 6: Synergy Example #1

In the example in Figure 7, Pike is in the Captain slot. His Captain Maneuver increases the effectiveness of all Officer Abilities that trigger in combat by 2x20%. You can see with Moreau as a supporting officer, she adds “+40%” synergy to Pike’s Captain Maneuver. This increases Pike’s Captain Maneuver to 2x60%. Notice that, since Chen is not from the same officer group, she is not adding any synergy (Figure 7).

·         Pike’s Captain Maneuver + Moreau synergy

·         2x20% + 40% = 2x60%

Figure 7: Synergy Example #2

  Let us look at three more examples that demonstrate three different synergy scenarios. In Figure 8 you will see Stamets as Captain with Tyler and Saru as supporting officers. Notice that the synergy boost between Stamets and Saru is “+3%”; but the synergy boost between Stamets and Tyler is only “+2%”.    Now look at Figure 9. You will see Stamets as Captain with Tyler and Tilly as supporting officers. Notice that the synergy boost between Stamets and Tyler, as well as between Stamets and Tilly, is “+2%”. Lastly look at Figure 10. You will see Stamets as Captain with Culber and Saru as supporting officers. Notice that the synergy boost between Stamets and Culber, as well as between Stamets and Saru, is “+3%”.

Figure 8: Synergy Example #3

Figure 9: Synergy Example #4

Figure 10: Synergy Example #5

Let us look at why there are differences in the synergy boost in these three examples. As mentioned previously, the supporting officers have to be from the same group as the Captain in order to have synergy. But, the class of supporting officer will affect amount of the synergy boost. This means that how you combine the officer classes on the bridge will determine amount of the synergy boost that you will get.

First, you need to know that there are three officer classes: Command, Science, and Engineer. You can see what class an officer is by clicking the “i” on the officer detail screen (Figure 11). Then you will see the officer class in the popup window that appears (Figure 12).

Next, there three levels of synergy boost when all three bridge officers are of the same group. You could call these Minimum Synergy Boost, Medium Synergy Boost, and Maximum Synergy Boost. The three levels of synergy boost work as follows:

·         Minimum Synergy Boost: When the Captain and the supporting officers are of the same class

o    Example: Command-Command-Command

·         Medium Synergy Boost:

o    When the supporting officers are of the same class but different from the Captain

§   Example: Science-Command-Science

o    When the Captain and one of the supporting officers are of the same class but the other supporting officer is of a different class from the Captain

§   Example: Command-Command-Science

·         Maximum Synergy Boost: When the Captain and the supporting officers are each from a different class

o    Example: Science-Command-Engineer

So, looking back at Figure 8, the synergy boost between Stamets and Saru is “+3%” because Stamets is an Engineering Class (Figure 12) and Saru is a Command Class (Figure 16). They are of different classes so bigger boost. And the synergy boost between Stamets and Tyler is only “+2%” because Stamets is an Engineering Class (Figure 12) and Tyler is an Engineering Class (Figure 14). They are of the same class so smaller boost.

   Now look back at Figure 9. The synergy boost between Stamets and Tyler, as well as between Stamets and Tilly, is “+2%”. Stamets is an Engineering Class (Figure 12), Tyler is an Engineering Class (Figure 14), and Tilly is an Engineering Class ( Figure 20). They are all of the same class so smaller boost.

Lastly look back at Figure 10. The synergy boost between Stamets and Culber, as well as between Stamets and Saru, is “+3%”. Stamets is an Engineering Class (Figure 12), Saru is a Command Class (Figure 16), and Culber is a Science Class (Figure 18). They are all of different classes so you get the Maximum Synergy Boost.

Figure 11: Officer Information Stamets #1	Figure 12: Officer Information Stamets #2
Figure 13: Officer Information Tyler #1	Figure 14: Officer Information Tyler #2
Figure 15: Officer Information Saru #1	Figure 16: Officer Information Saru #2
Figure 17: Officer Information Culber #1	Figure 18: Officer Information Culber #2
Figure 19: Officer Information Tilly #1	Figure 20: Officer Information Tilly #2

 

Summary

The synergy boost can increase how your ship performs various functions such as warp range or combat depending on the Captain Maneuver of the officer you place in the Captain slot. And, the amount of synergy boost is affected by the class of officers you place on the bridge with the Captain. However, you should note that having officers with synergy may not always be the best option. Sometimes specific officers with different abilities or higher stat attributes may be a better choice than selecting an officer with synergy.