We're under attack by a massive crystalline lifeform. The U.S.S. Enterprise encountered one of these nearly forty years ago, and the creature was destroyed. At the time, we believed that the creature was one of a kind and hadn't prepared for the eventuality of encountering another.



When this one was discovered traveling through this region of space, attempts at communication were made, but the creature responded by violently destroying the ships that were sent to make contact. As a result, Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force have both authorized immediate action to end the threat caused by its presence.



The Tholians seem particularly interested in this Entity. Perhaps they hope to communicate with it, based on their biological similarities as crystal-based life-forms. As usual, the Tholians are enigmatic, and we're not really sure what they have planned. We should be prepared to defend ourselves from their forces, as we move to engage the Crystalline Entity.

All hands on deck for a new spin on this popular, existing Task Force Operation! This time around, the Crystalline Cataclysm TFO will be joining the rank of other recent events as a Featured TFO. This change entails the following subtle differences from past runs:

Daily completion will reward a Featured TFO Commendation , rather than the Crystal Shards that were rewarded in the past.

, rather than the that were rewarded in the past. There will be a buyout option associated with the Event, which can be purchased from the Zen Store to receive 10 Featured TFO Commendations and 1 Ultimate Tech Upgrade.

As we pave the way for a future where all similar 3-week events live under the same banner as Featured TFO Events, we will be undertaking actions to clean up old Event Reputation Projects that will soon become deprecated under this new direction. Since none of the progress items previously rewarded by older versions of these events will be re-used, we have decided to take the following steps:

All slotted 14-token projects for the following Events will be automatically completed, regardless of the existing amount of progress made: Crystalline Cataclysm Into the Breach First Contact Day Kobayashi Maru Mirror Universe Invasion Sompek Arena

Projects completed in this manner will be awaiting you in your Event Reputation, ready to claim! This process will reward you the items, dilithium ore, and marks, as well as properly unlock Account-Wide reclaim as applicable.

All existing tokens used in the aforementioned projects will be automatically removed from players’ inventories, as they will no longer have a purpose going forward.

Bonus Projects (those that unlock after completion of the 14-day Project associated with each Event) will be unslotted and made unavailable.

At this time, no changes will be made to past Summer, Winter, or Anniversary Ship Projects that are already in-progress on your characters.

Ultimately, our goals for this and all future multi-week Events include a simplification of communication, and a streamlining of the process, in hopes of removing unnecessary complications from what should be a simple for players way to enjoy Star Trek Online for new, limited-time rewards. These steps are only the first few in a process that will continue evolving over the coming year or so, as we continue our endeavor to improve the player experience. We are excited to communicate those additional changes as they get closer to fruition!

Crystalline Cataclysm is an Event-specific version of the well-known Task Force Operation in Star Trek Online, known as Crystalline Catastrophe. In this 10-person TFO, captains will engage in aggressive negotiations against an invading cosmic entity of enormous proportions, and the Tholian aggressors that are enigmatically protecting its path of devastation into Alliance territory.

During the Event version of this TFO, be on your guard for anomalies spawning in the region, which seem to be caused by the presence of the Entity. You must maneuver your vessel to avoid these hazards while also defending yourself against the Crystalline Entity’s many powerful abilities.

This event will last for 3 weeks starting on August 8th. All players level 10 and above will be able to participate, and can earn a TFO Commendation once every 20 hours.

Complete the TFO on 14 different days to earn the Black Ops Mine Launcher in addition to marks, dilithium, and three Featured TFO Reward Boxes. This box gives your choice of an Enhanced Universal Tech Upgrade or a Captain Specialization Point Box, which gives the character who opens it a Specialization Point. These boxes are account bound and may be traded via the account bank.

Any character who finishes the 14 day project will unlock a bonus project that can be completed with a single TFO Commendation. This project will reward dilithium ore, fleet marks, and a mark choice package.

The Black Ops Mine Launcher is a weapon which may be slotted into any Aft Weapon Slot on any starship. This special weapon packages two separate types of mines together into each deployment: Blackout Mines and Blade Mines.

Blackout Mines : The Kinetic Damage dealt by one of these explosive devices resonates with enemy shields gaining increased damage based on the target's current shield percent – the higher they are, the harder these hit. They can briefly Hold targets in the impact zone, as well.

Blade Mines : These vicious mines will repeatedly attempt to bore along the hull of enemies, causing Physical damage over time, before detonating after a fixed period of time to deal Kinetic damage to enemies in the blast area.

Obtaining the Black Ops Mine Launcher on any character on your account will unlock the ability to reclaim the item on other characters, via the Reclaim tab of the Dilithium Store. You may only reclaim this item on characters that do not already own one.