The Phindra

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As much as I hate its big brother, the Kehra, I like the Phindra. It’s the third ship you can build, and it is an upgrade over the Orion Corvette.

Building the Phindra

In order to build the Phindra, you’ll need a level 10 Shipyard, Grade 2 Ship Research, Unlock Phindra Research. This will give you all 30 blueprints needed.

For your second Phindra, you can attack level 28+ hostiles, and extra Phindras will come in handy (I’ll explain later.)

What It’s Good At?

It’s going to be good for grinding low-level hostiles, defeating early mission bosses, and some low-level PvP. Don’t be afraid to use this ship to harvest overprotected cargo from unsuspecting Fortunates. You’re going to advance a lot faster by doing so. You’re going to get the resources you need to do research, develop your station, and upgrade your ships.

Ship Ability

+10% additional Damage against Battleships

One of the first things you should be figuring out in Star Trek Fleet command is the Combat Triangle. Battleships have an advantage over Explorers, Explorers have an Advantage over Interceptors. Interceptors have an advantage over Battleships.

So the Phindra’s advantage over Battleships is amplified by another 10%. This will be useful when it comes to hunting hostiles, in PvP, and against mission bosses.

Crewing Your Phindra

When crewing any ship, you want to ask yourself a few questions. What officers do I have? Which ones work well together? What am I fighting against? And what are the strengths of my ship?

Most of you who are getting your first Phindra have limited crew options, so you’ll have to use what you have.

If you’re fighting hostiles, and you haven’t miraculously gotten Pike yet, you’re going to want to go with the Starfleet Academy crew. You’re going to want Chen as your captain. Her captain’s ability increases the Dodge, Shields Deflection, and Armor of the ship. And her officer ability reduces hostile damage from energy weapons. Vel K’Bentayr is good to increase the damage from the Phindra’s two kinetic guns.

If you’re going after interceptors, you’re going to want T’Laan, who reduces damage from kinetic weapons, otherwise, I’d recommend going with Gaila for synergy and for her ability to reduce the damage from critical hits from hostiles.

This officer set will only work against hostiles. It will have no impact at all in PvP or against mission bosses.

Keep in mind that the Phindra only has kinetic weapons, and they only fire every other turn. So having officers that take advantage of kinetic weapons will be big.

In PvP, the Glory in the Kill crew works best. Vartoq as the captain, with his Interceptor Specialist captain’s maneuver – when inside an Interceptor, Vartoq increases Weapon Damage against players, and his officer ability of Kinetic Boost – If the opponent is a player, Vartoq increases the damage made by the Kinetic Weapons of the ship will be very useful. Combine him with Kras and Komal, and you’re going to take out a lot of enemy ships.

If you’re going against mission bosses, you’ll want the Another Time crew. Cadet Kirk, Cadet McCoy, and Cadet Uhura make a good team, with Kirk’s captain’s maneuver increasing the Attack, Defense, and Health of all Officers on the Bridge. His officer ability of “Tactician” – Increases the Weapon Damage of the ship by 8% pairs well. McCoy’s officer ability “Psychologist” further improves Kirk’s captain’s maneuver. Uhura’s ability increases the Shield Health of the ship.

The Downside

You get what you pay for. It’s a cheap ship, and it’s going to be obsolete in a hurry. But don’t fret, because…

What About Build-And-Scrap?

The Phindra is a great build-and-scrap ship, especially if you’re working on a Saladin, Horizon, or other ship that needs 3* crystal. You put in 2* crystal and 2* interceptor parts, and you get 3* uncommon and rare crystal, 3* uncommon and rare gas, and 3* interceptor parts in return. By the time I was ready to build my Saladin, I was loaded with 2* parts and materials, so I had these things building, upgrading, and scrapping on a regular basis. It’s a great way to take your useless leftovers into useful assets.

Background

tellarite cruiser kehra — (Memory Alpha photo)

Like the Kehra, the Phindra is based on the Tellaraite Cruiser from Star Trek: Enterprise. If you remember, the Tellarites were the pig people, who originally appeared in the TOS episode Journey to Babel.

The Tellarite Cruiser appeared in the Enterprise episode, Babel One, where one was destroyed by the Romulan Drone Ship.

The name Phindra comes from one of the moons of Tellar (the other one is Kehra), as described in the 1989 reference guide, Star Trek: The Worlds of the Federation.