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hands down...best escort?
djf021
Member Posts: 1,382 Arc User
Opinions wanted! I know the heavy escort carrier is the latest, but I've also seen people kick butt in a tactical escort (defiant). So in all of you guys opinions, what's the best escort? (Most maneuverable, most survivable, best Boff layout, etc?)
Thanks
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Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
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But honestly, there is no truly 'hands down' best of the best escort. A lot of people would say that the Jem'hader Attack Ship is truly that, and in many ways that is true.
There really is no single answer to your question, each escort is good.
The Defiant-R is a potent piece of work, amazing at alpha-strikes by de-cloaking. Armitage is a carrier-escort of course. The Jem'hader ship is...well, the Jem'hader ship (don't have one, so I dunno what to say on it). The Multi-Vector can split into three, plus having the Lt. Cmdr Sci is nice too.
Really, it's what you want, and who you play as, as to what will be the best.
Defiant-R: Gives up any advantages in sci and engineering in order to shove as much damage as possible out of it.
Patrol Escort and Armitage: The extra engineering ability means you survive a little easier, although they don't push out as much damage. The Armitage's hanger adds some versatility as well.
Advanced Escort/Multi-Vector: More sci slots means more sci abilities of course, again at the cost of as much damage, but Multi-Vector mode turns 1 into 3, which is very nice indeed.
This. Well said.
If there were truly a single 'best escort' for everything, and there was no reason for anyone else to fly any other type of escort, then you'd see everyone all flying the same ship all the time, and the ship designers would have completely failed at ship balance.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
Outside that and other cheatbox ships, as far as the Federation goes, the selection is pretty even from what I've observed opposing them in PVP.
Blockade Escorts, Defiant Retrofits, Prometheus/MVAE, they're represented pretty well in PVP and I've seen good drivers in each. The Armitage is FOTM right now and is shown frequently. There's little nuances to each, real subtle stuff outside the Armitage. That BOFF change from the Defiant and MVAE is subtle but makes a huge difference in how you play. The standard dil-costing Blockade Escort at RAdm is nothing to scoff at either.
Now, as a matter of personal opinion, I think the slight leaning to Science for the MVAE is a rather nasty combination. You give up a touch of offensive power compared to the Defiant-R, but your capabilities are nicely evened out with the enhancing or debuffing Sci abilities with the MVAE.
I'll put it like this: The Defiant-R is excellent at being a stealthy blunt-shaped instrument. Massive firepower out of the cloak like a KDF ship is it's game, in addition to great maneuverability. The MVAE though, due to the slight shift with Science, is more flexible due to drawing well from both TAC (heavily) and SCI (less) abilities.
I have the defiant, heavy escort carrier and the multi vector. The defiant has a commander tactical and lt commander tactical station. It cloaks, which looks cool, and it packs a punch. The escort carrier doesn't have the lt commander tactical station, but has a lt tactical station. It does have a lt commander engineering station and it has a hangar which is a great advantage. The multi vector is cool because it can separate into 3 parts and you can choose which part you want to control. You can't command the other 3 parts, and I haven't figured out an easy way to provide shield or hull repair, but its fun to use. All ships have their advantages and disadvantages. Personally I find the escort carrier more fun to use, mainly because of the hangar. The defiant has cloak, which will help you to strategically place yourself during battles, but that's about it. You can't cloak during fights. The escort carrier has the same punch as the defiant, but it has a hangar. The multi vector is cool, but when you fight multiple ships, unless you repair hull and shields, you can lose the other parts. It's really up to your preference on what advantage you like. I think all are great ships, but I enjoy using the heavy escort carrier
-Spells
| Dues Ex Mechina |
Fleet Leader
Nearly 50k hull, a turn rate like a brel and great slots. The 5 th console is crazy dps.
Since its almost impossible to get one, the other ships worth using would be the hegta, garamba, brel on klingon. The fleet defiant, fleet armitage, fleet blockade escort, fleet MVAM on fed.
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The Refit Defiant is also good if you just simply want to pump damage out and make Alpha strikes, although I find the Armitage has lots of Versatility with it's BOff layout and fighter wing. Like a Cruiser-Escort thingeh (I guess it IS an Escort Carrier :P)
It's honestly all about play-style, whether you want DPS, Versatility/Healing or Crowd Control.
'Keep your ears open.'"
That depends what yo'u'e doing. In PVP for example, the ability to setup your attack run and jump someone when they're not expecting it, from an awkward angle for them is invaluable. And as far as I know, the bug can't cloak.
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
Supposedly the Quad Cannons are suppose to be slightly better now with Season 6.
Folks like to argue this point, so who really knows....I have run my own tests with my defiant lately and they seem to be slightly better than Mk X12 Dual Heavy Cannons in the DPS category.
I paid for them when I was ranking up and I think they just look cool in combat, so I just use them! :cool:
Thx
Delirium Tremens
Tier 4 Starbase, Tier 3 Embassy
http://dtfleet.com/
If you have access to mk 12 don't bother.
I truly think they should have been introduced earlier like T2 as they would have provided a far better bang to buck ratio.
If your not going for a bleeding edge build, they will be just fine.
If I ask you a question it is not an insult but a genuine attempt to understand why.
When I insult you I won't be discreet about it, I will be precise and to the point stupid.
I don't craft, I just collect Mk XII Borg weapons with one damage suffix. Based on that, what do you think about quad cannons?
Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
-Captain James T. Kirk
Quads shows more dps than Borg MK XII DHC. On top of that they are phasers and the phasers proc is based on hit, with Quad, DHC, turrets + CRF you can set those proc going off quite often. Nice to see enemy shield going almost constantly on and off from procs. And that's not counting weapons which we don't see and usually don't really notice or engine which shows when they stop suddenly or auxiliary which we can't really notice either save on hud.
As for best escort, like everyone says, they all have strenght, tac, eng or sci. So its more a matter of personal choice and play style.
E'Mc2 : Science Reman torp T'Varo, deadly annoyance :P
Kunmal: Tactical fed Klingon, ground specialist, USS Kanewaga
Ka -tet Tier 5 fleet fully completed Starbase and fleet property
The Armitage looks like it's even stronger, though, with the fighters, though as I don't have it and don't plan on getting it I can't say for sure.
front weapons 1 quad cannon a mr12borg ap dbb , a mrk 12 borg ap dhc a mark 12 borg quantum torpedo launcher rear weapons 2 mrk12 ap turrets and a mrk 12 borg quantum torpedo launcher consoles tactical 4 m11 blue ap consoles engineering two blue mark 11 rcs consoles other enginerring consoles i swap armor consoles as needed, science conloes the thunderchild point defense system and the armitage photon point defense system. the ship device slots i have a red matter capacitor and either a platform of some sort or peririne reinforcements or fleet spinal lance for base defense missions and batteries when i am out of other. the hanger i switch out different blue quality perigrine fighters , danube runabouts or delta flyers, the repair pets just dont seem to repair enough to justify using them.
the 2 rcs consoles give her extraordinary agility even through she is cruiser size which is important while using quad cannons withe their very small field of fire and yes they are now worth the purchase price since the latest buff they got. i like to launch danubes and while they holding prey open up with crf3 or bo3 and torpedo spread 2 then pop the torpedo console and that usually is it for that guy and his closet buddies are usually dispatched with csv 2 and another torpedo spread either 1 or 2 and poping the other point defense module.
It is NOT called a blockade runner, blockade escort, or anything like it. It is called a PATROL escort. Why do people constantly get this wrong?
- Demosthenes01101, from the REAL Star Trek Online forums!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"You have been, and always shall be, my friend."
- Pointy-eared, green blooded, hobgoblin
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes
Ditto, ditto, ditto!
Honestly though, the Jem'Hadar ship is the best escort - that's a fact...You only have to compare its stats to see that...Ok, that's enough rhyming.
But I still fly my Defiant regularly, it's too much fun!
@f4tamy | Sad Pandas
If you consider Fleet ships, your three options are the HEC again, for the same reasons, the Patrol escort again, for the same reasons, but then the Fleet Defiant jumps up as a contender because of the 5x tac console slots. That's all folks!
- Demosthenes01101, from the REAL Star Trek Online forums!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"You have been, and always shall be, my friend."
- Pointy-eared, green blooded, hobgoblin
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes
if you favour the patrol escort so much over the other escorts, you should also consider the AE, the sci ensign slot is just as usefull as the engi ensign slot on the patrol escort. in my opinion they are both at the same level, but that level is well below the z-store escorts.
And the defiant takes a special place, since it has a cloak.
even if you disregard lockbox ships, which i think you are right to do so, because they are hard to get, the bug ship remains the best escort when comparing only stats.
Go look at what the original RA Fleet Escort is called now in the requisition screen. It may be incorrect but it's still what is there.
I am a very big fan of the Patrol Escort myself, regular and fleet. It's no JH Bug and it lacks the lol-decloak-BO3/1 of the Defiant-R, but it's still rather effective and can take quite a beating for an escort.
The JH Bug is pretty much the best if you don't want to cloak, though.
Matthew/Shiduri@zekesulastin
Really? They haven't fixed that yet? Bah, cryptic.
And I get from your and the previous persons mention of the cloak that you are talking PvP. I don't PvP. In terms of the best escort in the game for...the game (which excludes pvp, as it is terrible and broken and the devs will probably remove it entirely soon enough), I firmly believe it is the Fleet Escort. I acknowledge that the RA Advanced also has the advantageous tac boff slots, but I believe the lt. cmdr. engi slot to be infinitely more powerful than the lt. cmdr. sci slot. On an escort, you are not going to be running high aux, and you really aren't going to put much into sci skills aside from shield skills, so a lt. cmdr sci slot doesnt really do much for you, if you want more tankiness a lt. cmdr engie slot is infinitely superior, opening up a myriad of options in that regard. I don't consider the defiant because of its 50 crew and lower tankiness, and, more importantly, it has that extra ensign tac boff which is utterly useless. The cloak, again, good for PvP, not so much for PvE. So, in sum, outside of fleet ships, Patrol Escort is the king of PvE escorts! (again, the HEC is a REALLY close second with that hangar, but it has the crappy tac boff layout and it costs money, sooooo....)
- Demosthenes01101, from the REAL Star Trek Online forums!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"You have been, and always shall be, my friend."
- Pointy-eared, green blooded, hobgoblin
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes
Sorry but the extra tac slot is useless only if don't have a weapon loadout that permit to use it. For instance put a torpedo or a Dual beam upt front and it isn't useless anymore. You make it useless if you don't want to put anything but Dual Cannons up front.
The fleet defiant will have an extra Tactical console but it will also have 3k more hull, something everyone seems to forget. More tanky and dangerous than before and if you want to use the cloak you don't have to sacrifice anything that the original Defiant retrofit has without it.
E'Mc2 : Science Reman torp T'Varo, deadly annoyance :P
Kunmal: Tactical fed Klingon, ground specialist, USS Kanewaga
Ka -tet Tier 5 fleet fully completed Starbase and fleet property
And the highest DPS build right now is pure DHCs, but that aside, even using a single torp or DBB, there is a wasted tac slot unless I use BOTH a DBB and a torp...which is just bad.
Also you will notice I mentioned the 5x tac slot defiant, but I also said my assessment of the patrol escort was OUTSIDE OF fleet ships.
- Demosthenes01101, from the REAL Star Trek Online forums!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"You have been, and always shall be, my friend."
- Pointy-eared, green blooded, hobgoblin
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes
A the very least I don't use the cloak in STF's.
I have the Armitage but haven't used that yet for STFs as I am apprehensive about controlling my pets. I don't want to be 'that guy'.
I may pick up the MV and slap the console in the Advanced, but with so many toons I think I just want to focus on one ship per captain for now, and if I had to choose one ship, it would definately be the Tactical Escort Retrofit, at least until I can get my Andorian hands on the Fleet upgrade.
I just picked up a jump console to play with as well.
I do love the four nacelle look of the advanced escort, especially the Phoenix.
I think the Fleet Patrol Escort looks promising with the universal ensign. But for me as I have the Advanced, Tactical Retrofit, and Escort Carrier, I am already covered as far as Boff setups.
But just to say it one last time, if I had to pick one ship it would be the Tactical Escort Retrofit.
( I do plan to level up a Joined Trill Escort Engineer Captain to pilot an Armitage in the near future )
EPTS always up, plus another engie power for a bit more tank. Add in the great console layout and really if your ship explodes in an STF you did something wrong. I frequently kill cubes by flying pointblank and taking the HY torpedo to let the splash finish them off in mine.
Basically no wasted Boff abilities nor dump consoles on that sweet little ship. It is efficient. And the fleet version only need tier 1!
Granted yes the defiant will have better burst and some sci powers are beast and the Jammie ship is just cheating. But I still think the ship formerly known as a Fleet Escort is 'overall' the best.