Greetings,
So as it happens on rare occasions, my Zen stipend has grown large enough to purchase one of the $25 C-Store ships. But I find myself having difficulty choosing which ship would best benefit my captains. This internal debate has caused me to question whether the my current ship choices are ideal or not for my current captains. So I turn to you, my peers for advice on who should be flying what and how best to maximize their builds.
Oh course, it would help you to know who my captains are and what ships I already have at my disposal.
My Captains
Demetha
Tactical Captain
Currently Ship: Heavy Escort Carrier
Notes:
Demetha is my first and oldest character dating back to Headstart. Most of my has been built around minimizing his defensive weaknesses. So when the T5 Akira (my favorite class of ship) was released as a tanky escort, I could have been happier. Still he's been in a number of ships over the years, from the Defiant up to the Odyssey and he was able to be effective if not optimized.
Starbuck
Engineering Captain
Current Ship: Chimera Destroyer
Notes:
Starbuck is my up and coming engineer and may even replace Demetha as my main. He is my choice to take into STFs and at least on normal difficulty he's done well. Still I haven't done any elite STFs yet and I don't know how he'll do under extreme pressure.
I know a lot of people consider this ship mediocre. Still I've grown attached to some of the unique possibilities of this ship. Currently I tend run it with: Cmd. Tactical, Lt. Cmd. and Lt. Science, Lt. and Ens. Engineering. This not only gives me Access to high end Tactical, but plenty of science abilities such as Gravity Well, and a health dose of Engineering abilities for shield/hull healing. Plus the ability to bounce between Tac and Recon mode allows me to adapt to the situation. It's not of ship of great strength, it's a ship of few weaknesses. Still I occasionally question whether I should put him back into a cruiser and build more as a true tank
Tiana
Science Captain
Current Ship: Multi-Vector Advanced Escort
Notes:
Of all my VA captains, she's the one I have the hardest time with, mostly because a debuff/healer isn't a class I usually play in MMOs. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to change that, but I'll need to figure her out first. She's flying the MVAE mostly as a hand me down from Demetha after he moved on to the Akira. I've always toyed with taking her back to a true science ship, but I always felt ineffective.
So those are my three Vice Admirals. In addition to the ships mentioned here, I also recently picked up the Steamrunner and each of my captains grabbed the base Odyssey during last years Anniversary event. Tiana and Demetha also have the T5 Intrepid and Defiant respectively, and Starbuck still has his VA token.
So that brings me to my dilemma. Who would be better in a different ship and who would benefit most from an entirely new ship. Right now I'm looking at the Tac Oddysey, the Regent or maybe one of the new Vestas.
So, what are your thoughts?
Comments
The catboat is a very different affair, being a real lumbering beast (and the largest ship in the game), but the kind of fun some players have with gobs of fighters is apparently quite good. If you're lucky you could also score a Recluse on the exchange or via lobi and try that, too.
If you are looking for damage dealing the Aventine and its console is great. If you can hold your target then crank aux to max with a batt you can roast a target with that quantum phaser. Its important to use phasers as your main weapon with that console since the phaser consoles boost the QFFP's damage.
If you are going to use the Aux phasers the Vesta might be the best since she has the +15 to Aux power, but she also has the AOE heal making her more of the support ship.
The Rademaker probably has the most useful console, its basically the Brace For Impact+Polarize Hull+Kinetic Feedback Pulse.
Personally I find the Vesta console (Fermion AOE heal) to be more useful, since I'm not great at tanking. I've saved my whole team more than once by popping it during the later waves of No Win Scenario, when everything's happening at close quarters and most of your people are clustered together defending the transport. And if you bought the Steamrunner and have its Team Fortress console equipped, you can practically make your team invincible for a short while.
The Rademaker's console is also cool, but is more situational and its reflect ability depends on actually getting the enemy to fire torpedoes at you, something you don't necessarily want unless you're aiming to tank. Plus, it also has a knockback effect (kind of like Tractor Repulsors) that can push enemies out of your Tyken rifts or Gravity wells and annoy your friends if poorly timed.
The Aventine's console is the least useful I find, since it depends on your particle generator skill and your aux power. As an Engi I don't have as many points in PG as a Sci, and I don't use the Aux cannons very often (I prefer broadside beams) which makes keeping a target in the forward arc for the duration of the strike kind of annoying.
Ok that over and done with, I would also recommend the Vesta, since she's a good ship. A mite squishy on the hull end, but overall, she makes up for it with her other abilities. Mostly. You will still see Vesta's getting one shotted by plasma crits, but that's far and few between. Set her up correctly, and that ship will NOT fail you.
My tax is using it and I have found that as long as you look after the shields you are OK.....plus with the 3 pack you get that quantom bubble which has saved my Bacon with the heavy plasma many times.
Also with the Regent, IMO it's a fine ship as well. In fact, for the moment, it's my main ship. However, if you should get it, be prepared for the fact that it is in fact a SIDEGRADE to the regular Assault Cruiser and not a true upgrade. It's the most tactical of the sub-Odyssey Federation cruisers, instead of being middle-of-everything the standard AC is. It's still great at its role, tank-DPS hybrid, but it's more wedged into the DPS side of things than the AC.
Just some thoughts for the future, as I can't evaluate the Vesta, being very poorly versed in science builds and abilities.