Star Trek Online: Rediscovered lands with three flavors of Spock (Nimoy, Quinto, Peck) folded into a single expansion, and if you’re a Federation, Klingon, or Romulan main you’re going to end up rerolling a build inside the first week. That’s the STO life. The best apps for Star Trek Online expansion companion on desktop below are what a returning captain runs alongside the client: a build planner, a combat log parser, a lore wiki, a note-taking vault, plus the streaming and community tools that keep a fleet coordinated across time zones.
What to look for on Rediscovered launch day
- A skill planner that already reflects the current level cap and specialization revamps
- A combat log parser that reads STO’s log format without a plugin fight
- A lore reference deep enough to survive an expansion that folds three continuities together
- A note vault that spans ships, captains, and duty officers
- Fleet coordination that carries voice, text, and event pings
- Streaming tools that work with the STO client without the client fighting the overlay
- A build-import format shared with the community
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free tier | Starting price | Cross-platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STO Academy Skill Planner | Build planning | Free | Free | Web |
| SCM Combat Log Reader | DPS parsing | Free | Free | Windows |
| Obsidian | Captain and ship notes | Free | Around $50/year Sync | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Discord | Fleet coordination | Free | Around $10/month Nitro | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Fandom STO Wiki | Rediscovered lore lookup | Free | None | Web |
| OpenBridge | Bridge officer manager | Free | Free | Windows |
| OBS Studio | Streaming the new episodes | Free | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux |
The apps
1. STO Academy Skill Planner, best for build planning
STO Academy’s skill planner has been the community standard for over a decade, and it stayed current across level-cap revamps, specialization overhauls, and the recent Endeavor system rewrite. You pick a career, level up point-by-point, and the planner spits out a shareable URL that a fleet mate can open and copy. Rediscovered adds a specialization tree the planner mirrors in-tool, so a returning captain can plan the reroll before the client patch finishes.
Where it falls short: the UI is dated, and mobile browsing is second-class.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything
- Paid: None
Available: STO Academy site
Bottom line: the first app a returning captain opens before touching the reroll.
2. SCM Combat Log Reader, best for DPS parsing
SCM Combat Log Reader is the community’s DPS parser for STO. Point it at the game’s combat log file, run a run, and the tool spits out damage-per-second, healing, threat, and per-power breakdowns that the STO client itself does not expose. Fleet events (Advanced and Elite Task Force Ops) use SCM parses to justify DPS channel invites, and the tool’s export format is what the DPS League has standardized on.
Where it falls short: log parsing needs a folder path set once, and the UI density is best described as functional.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything
- Paid: None
- Platforms: Windows
Available: SCM Combat Log Reader release page
Bottom line: the only sensible way to know if your reroll actually paid off.
3. Obsidian, best for captain and ship notes
Obsidian turns the whole STO ship, captain, and Doff mess into a wiki you actually navigate. Every captain gets a page, ship classes and duty officers link across, and the Graph View shows you which captain has been fed which set. The plugin ecosystem handles dice rolls if you cross into the Star Trek Adventures tabletop game, and the Excalidraw plugin holds the sector-by-sector notes for an Iconian War replay.
Where it falls short: setup is DIY, and Sync is a paid tier.
Pricing:
- Free: Local vault, all plugins
- Paid: Around $50/year Sync
Available: Obsidian site
Bottom line: the note vault that survives an expansion.
4. Discord, best for fleet coordination
Discord is where every active STO fleet lives. Text channels for event coordination, voice for the actual Elite runs, and role gates for DPS League invites are the pattern. Rediscovered’s launch events (the three-Spock arc, the new red alerts) all coordinate on Discord, and every major fleet posts calendar invites via a Discord bot rather than through the STO client’s own event system.
Where it falls short: notification tuning is a fresh chore per server, and the desktop client’s memory footprint on Linux still bothers people.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app
- Paid: Around $10/month Nitro for cosmetic upgrades
Available: Discord site
Bottom line: the tool you keep running alongside the STO client from launch.
5. Fandom STO Wiki, best for Rediscovered lore lookup
Fandom’s STO Wiki is the community’s canonical reference and holds a page for every episode, ship, captain, and enemy in Star Trek Online. The Rediscovered expansion’s three-Spock threads land there within days of launch, cross-referenced with Enterprise, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds canon. It’s ugly, ad-heavy, and irreplaceable.
Where it falls short: ad load is aggressive, and content quality varies by page.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything
- Paid: None
Available: STO Fandom wiki
Bottom line: the reference you’ll open more often than you expect.
6. OpenBridge, best for bridge officer manager
OpenBridge is an open-source bridge officer and ship layout manager. You import a build via the STO Academy URL, and OpenBridge shows the trait, ability, and console interaction visually, in a way that STO’s own tooltip does not. Post-Rediscovered, when the new specialization trees interact with existing bridge officer traits, OpenBridge is where the interactions get legible.
Where it falls short: development pace depends on maintainer availability, and the Mac and Linux builds trail Windows.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything (MIT license)
- Paid: None
- Platforms: Windows, Linux via Wine
Available: OpenBridge GitHub
Bottom line: the visualizer for what your STO Academy plan will actually feel like on the bridge.
7. OBS Studio, best for streaming the new episodes
OBS Studio is the default streaming tool, and it captures the STO client without a fight. The Rediscovered launch is exactly the kind of content people stream, so if you’re planning to run the three-Spock arc for a fleet audience, OBS with the STO game capture source is the right stack. NDI, browser sources, and dynamic bitrate keep the stream stable on the fleet Discord as well as on Twitch.
Where it falls short: the initial setup is intimidating, and audio mix takes a session to dial in.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything
- Paid: None
Available: OBS Studio site
Bottom line: the streaming default for STO content since 2014.
How to pick the right one
Open STO Academy Skill Planner before you spend a single skill point on your reroll. Install SCM Combat Log Reader after your first event run and before you decide whether the reroll worked. Add Obsidian for the note vault the moment the third alt shows up. Discord is the fleet backbone. Fandom’s wiki carries the lore. OpenBridge is the visualizer if the specialization interactions confuse you. OBS is the stream tool when you’re ready to share the run.
Skip anything that promises a bot for automating STO gameplay. Cryptic has a track record of banning botted accounts, and the community frowns on it hard.
FAQ
What is Star Trek Online: Rediscovered?
Rediscovered is the new STO expansion that folds three actors’ Spocks (Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, and Ethan Peck) into a single storyline. It’s Cryptic’s biggest lore integration in years.
Is Star Trek Online free-to-play?
Yes. Star Trek Online is free-to-play with an optional subscription. All expansions have been free since the game moved to F2P.
What is the best DPS parser for STO?
SCM Combat Log Reader is the community standard. It’s free, actively maintained, and produces the parse format the DPS League requires.
Where do STO fleets communicate?
Discord. Almost every active fleet runs a public or private Discord server that carries event coordination, voice channels for runs, and role-gated content.
Can I stream STO with OBS?
Yes, OBS Studio’s Game Capture source works with the STO client without any per-game tweaks. Use the game capture source rather than window capture for the best frame rate.
