Star Trek Online 2023 Summer Event rewards Lower Decks 'Ren Faire Type' ship

Star Trek Online developer Cryptic will kick off the game's annual summer seasonal event on June 28, 2023. The celebration will offer players minigames, activities, and the chance to earn various prizes, including unique items patterned after "canonical" Star Trek series. This year's offerings include gear sets based on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and a unique playable starship based on the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

The Lower Decks ship is based on one seen in the Season 2 episode "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie". In-game, it is called the "Hysperian Intel Battlecruiser," and is a near-exact replica of the Monaveen, the Hysperian starship seen in the episode. In the show, the Hysperians are a society that is patterned after medieval fantasy stories. They rename the technology that underpins their civilization after fantastical concepts, like "dragon breath" and magic. The chief engineer of the U.S.S. Cerritos, Andy Billups, is the former prince of that society, and his mother the queen's attempts to get him to leave Starfleet and take up his role as royalty make up the plot of the episode. 

Players will be able to earn the Hysperian Intel Battlecruiser by logging in and participating in the summer event on the famed vacation planet of Risa. There they can earn daily progress by joining in the various minigames, which include dance contests, jetpack and hoverboard races, and even scavenger hunts involving the Risian Jamaharon statues. By logging in for about 20 days of the 30-day runtime of the event, players will earn enough progress to redeem it for the ship, which becomes theirs to keep and command. They'll also be able to keep playing on Risa to earn other items, like costumes, new kit modules and bridge officer skills, and special items.

Besides the ship, another set of new items added for the 2023 event is based on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Like the Hysperian ship, the items are also medieval fantasy-themed, and take from The Kingdom of Elysian, a story read by U.S.S. Enterprise medical officer Dr. Joseph M'Benga. The items consist of the Elysian Spellsword, Neve's Icy Talons rings, and the Ring of Reflection. They form a 3-piece set called the Elysian War Magick set, and have additional effects when worn and wielded together in combat. 

Star Trek Online is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The summer event begins on June 28, 2023, and ends on July 28, 2023.