Mudd’s Into Darkness and Beyond Pack

While I haven’t been paying much attention to STO lately, it doesn’t mean I haven’t peeked in every now and then to see if anything cool is coming down the pipe. It just so happens that the Mudd’s Into Darkness and Beyond Pack is now being offered, with still a few more days to go! This tickles my fancy a bit because I do like many of the reboot ship designs, and all of them have been expensive to get in the after-market. Not that this bundle is cheap — even at 50% off it’s a hefty 14750 Zen (regular price 29500 Zen, but never pay full price in Mudd’s Market. EVER.), so is it worth shelling out?

Like other Mudd’s bundles before, this is a choice pack. Much easier to just show the official infographic to see what’s being offered.

In very general terms, always pick the ships. There may be specific circumstances where you would want to pick the other stuff, but most of the time they’re worth far less. 

With that out of the way, let’s have a look at the ship choices:

• The Intel Dreadnought, a.k.a. Vengeance is and has always been a popular ship. It’s a solid performer, has star power, and being an affordable Lobi ship makes it far more common than any of the other ships on this list. Getting an account-wide version might be an attractive thing for some players, but for me personally I don’t ever fly the same ship on multiple toons, so if you’re like me then that’s not a selling point. I already have one toon (Admiral Brown) flying the Vengeance, so if I were to get this bundle it won’t benefit me, with one caveat — getting the Broadside Emitters console that is part of the 4-piece with the next 3 ships.
• From the Kelvin Pack 1 — The Kelvin Heavy Command Constitution a.k.a. iEnterprise is the titular hero ship of the reboot, but alas it is overshadowed by the Legendary version that came with the 10-pack. This version is objectively inferior, made worse by the fact that the Legendary Konnie has an additional refit costume skin. Among the ships being offered in this bundle, this is the one I would never use.
• Also from Pack 1 — The D4X is arguably the best raider, but certainly the best BoP in-game. A couple of years ago I splurged on this and paid a king’s ransom for it on the market, and it doesn’t disappoint. The only thing that can improve it is if it has an alternate B’Rel skin! But if you like raiders and BoPs, this is the ultimate thing. 
• Finally from Pack 1 — I’ve always liked the unusual Cryptic design for the T’laru — it’s literally a headless chicken. It’s also quite expensive on the market, but since it’s a carrier I could never justify getting it to replace R’Jal’s Scimitar. If I were to get this bundle, the T’laru would be one of the main attractions.
• From the Kelvin Pack 2 — The Kelvin Einstein Heavy Destroyer is a good ship, but I think it’s main attraction is the movie design. I don’t own this ship so how do I know it’s good? Because I also splurged on its Klingon counterpart, the Kelvin D7, back in February and nabbed one for Salassa. I paid 1.2 billion EC for it so it irks me a bit that there is now a much more affordable option 4 months later. Anyway, the Kelvin and the D7 are essentially the same ship, only difference being that the D7 has a battle cloak and the Kelvin has…. well, the distinction of being in the movie and getting destroyed in less than 5 minutes? With the faction restrictions removed, you would only fly the Kelvin for aesthetic purposes.
• And finally, the Jellyfish! Since this was originally a Promo ship, this guy is the rarest of the bunch! This ship would be the biggest draw for me to get this bundle, although for a science ship it’s not particularly outstanding. It also messes with my immersion: this is a small single-occupancy vessel, which doesn’t account for Heidy and her 10 senior officers, as well as 400 DOffs. Where does everyone fit???

So objectively, the bundle is not a bad deal at all. Even though it’s pricey, it gives you a fairly good choice of ships. Between my toons, I have four who currently fly some versions of these ships (i.e. Vengeance, D4X, D7 and the Legendary Konnie), which is indicative of how good the ships are. Unfortunately for me, BECAUSE so many of my toons already fly these ships, I personally won’t be getting much from the bundle; I may see some occasional use of the Jellyfish, the T’laru and maybe the Kelvin, which is not enough for me to justify a purchase. For players who are interested in Kelvin ships and have the money to spare though? This is a difficult bundle to say no to.