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Best Cruiser for a Tac.
captainamericax
Member Posts: 2 Arc User
So i'm looking to upgrade my ship. I've been running an Assault Cruiser for awhile now and thought its time for an upgrade.
So far I've heard either the Excelsior Retrofit or the Assault Cruiser Retrofit. However, I don't really know which would be better. Anyone have any idea on which would be better fit?
I have also heard that there will be new ships released in a month or 2 that would make both those cruisers obsolete. That has made me re-think if I should even buy a new cruiser now, or wait and hope the new ones are better.
So what do you guys think? Should I get an Excelsior or Assault? And if I should, which one and why?
And if I shouldn't get one, and I should wait, do you guys know what ships will be released or at least maybe have an idea of what we will be able get access to?
Thanks for the help in advance.
So far I've heard either the Excelsior Retrofit or the Assault Cruiser Retrofit. However, I don't really know which would be better. Anyone have any idea on which would be better fit?
I have also heard that there will be new ships released in a month or 2 that would make both those cruisers obsolete. That has made me re-think if I should even buy a new cruiser now, or wait and hope the new ones are better.
So what do you guys think? Should I get an Excelsior or Assault? And if I should, which one and why?
And if I shouldn't get one, and I should wait, do you guys know what ships will be released or at least maybe have an idea of what we will be able get access to?
Thanks for the help in advance.
"The Easiest Day, was Yesterday"
Post edited by captainamericax on
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That aside...
Yes, the Excelsior is an excellent tac-heavy cruiser. It's got the best base turn rate of any Fed cruiser, making it much easier to move around, and even realistically use a single cannon/turret build (I use it).
The Regent is also a great cruiser. Lt. Cmdr and Lt. tac slots give you a lot of possibilities. When I used to fly it, I ran it as a beam boat with double FAW 2, double TT 1, and an APB 2.
The Gal-X is fun, but it really lacks in two areas: Turn, and tac BOFFs. It can use DHCs, but a lack of good, constant turn isn't always easy to deal with.
Normal Assault Cruiser can still be good if nothing else, just because it can help you get used to a Fed cruiser with a slightly heavier tac layout.
In terms of lockbox ships...
Galor is great, has an awesome base turn, comes with the Spiral Wave Disruptors (and allows you to buy more of them). Slightly more science intensive than the D'kora below, but an excellent ship. Can make good use of a single-cannon/turret build like the Excelsior.
The D'kora is probably my favorite lockbox ship. Good turn rate (can be boosted by the console that comes with it), Lt. Cmdr and Ensign tac slots, can use DHCs (and make them work well). Doesn't have quite the tac-heaviness as like the Regent, but still very impressive and able to hold it's own.
I agree, I would wait till the Ambassador stats are released before I make a final decision on cruiser.
The two best offensive cruisers fedside atm are the Regent and Excelsior. The Regent has a great bridge layout and the wide angle torpedo launcher is great because it will enable you to fire at targets during your broadside. The Excelsior also had a decent bridge layout with a LTCmder tac station which allows you access to some nice tac skills and it is the most maneuverable of the cruisers fedside which makes it A LOT more fun to fly. The Excelsiors maneuverability and LtCmd tac slot also makes it one of the only cannon viable cruisers. It also has the transwarp drive, which obviously doesn't help combat wise, but is nice for getting around the map. If you are interested in the fleet upgrades the fleet Excelsior is available at Tier 3 shipyard and has 4 tac consoles which helps it put out some good dps numbers. The fleet assault cruiser also has 4 tac console slots, but isn't available till tier 5 so unless you belong to a great fleet that ship is probably out of reach for the time being.
Tjae a crack at one of these ships at anytime to get the handling down and refine yout skill as a captain for them and then when the better ships come out make the switch. It will be far easier then a transfer from any other ship type, hell you might find you like these ships more then those.
I hope they make my crazy epix ambassador though lol 500 smackaroos for it and i will pay asap
Honestly, Breen ship has been an amazing ship. Great turn rate, several universal slots and good tact capabilities. Tough ship too! Pointless saying this though if you dont already have it.
Would try out the fleet Excel if I were you, and if anybody would be kind enough to invite me their fleet so I can get one, Id be much obliged! Lol
I may wait after hearing about the Ambassador, but i'm only worried that it's going to be another Odyssey repeat. And that was a major disappointment in my opinion. I also saw the Fleet variants and was interested in getting one, but the work and cost to get one would take awhile for me since I basically just starting playing again recently from a 9 month break. :P
You may want to wait untill the Amby comes out.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
How much different is the Oddy Tac vs the Original handed out during the Anniversary event? If its just a slot or console added more moved around, then I do not want it haha.
The Oddy had a terrible turning rate and was just a giant target for me. And my Sovy set up would have had to been completely revamped for it to even be usable. I personally found the Oddy to be a terrible cruiser from my experience. It looks cool, but nothing more than that.
first: it has a tac console slot more = more firepower
second: chevron seperation is awesome
third: forget the other 2 consoles, aquarius is worthless and the drones are "meh":(
i prefer a setup with 5 tac boffs slots and 3 science boff slots...only the commander engi with aux2sif 3
the chevorn sep makes the ship very maneuverable, more than any other cruiser (even on KDF side) if i'm not mistaken.
Versatility is exceptional, it can be virtually anything you want it to be.
basically your turning rate argument (which i agrre on) disapears with the chevron seperation console. Not only is it a turnrate boost, you also get a set of additional powers from the saucer and an extra gun.
PVP is a whole different story, but even there the oddy is among the best support cruisers you can have...you only need to change your boffs.
I've never seen how the Disk Separation works honestly. Do you still retain control of both parts? And how would it work as a beam boat?
No, you have control of your main ship...the saucer attacks your target and casts more or less intelligently it's abilitys on friends or targets.
when it gets destroyed you remain in the separated form, upon reuniting (or exiting the map) a 5 minute cooldown starts
the low turnrate make dual cannons only viable for PVE, and even there you will struggle with this low turnrate. The lance has a very long cooldown, so only viable for burst dmg...compared with the guramba javelin it seems worthless.
i've seen some effective 8 beam Galaxy X with the 2x aux2batt and technician doff setup, other than that i wouldn't consider it a dps cruiser.
2 years ago it may have been a viable cruiser option, but it has long been surpassed by other cruisers.
That may change again if the galaxy X gets a saucer separation aswell, which was promised for over a year now.
to fly an oddy you really have to have the set. the three consoles are saucer seper, escort and workbees. using saucer seper the ship flies as well as a excelsior. the escort does decent damage and can take the heat off you a bit. the workbees are a hull heal that can be run pretty continuously.
there is an ongoing "discussion" to using the sci hull for the sensor analysis, ot the tac for the third console slot.
I like, the C store assault ship
Well that throws the Galaxy out as an option. I'm trying to find a cruiser that has a good turn rate and dps. The Assault Cruiser works perfectly for me. I can tank fairly well as a distraction for a short amount of time and put out damage. All while being maneuverable and fast.
So far, the Excelsior sounds like the perfect choice, but I don't know if I want to get it now or if I should wait for the new ships to come out. And the Assault Refit sounds decent as well, but I'm kinda leaning towards the Excelsior for that extra turn rate.
btw The Oddy can support cannons singles and turrets.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
That being said, I really do enjoy the Regent and the Tac Odyssey (with Chevron separation). It should be noted that when separated the Tac Odyssey's turn exceeds the Excelsior's but it costs a slot and if you die, well prepare to wait.
The Excelsior (for now) is probably the best of the Federation fleet, but I don't prefer the appearance.
And disk separation is cool, but I think I can pass on that part. I may get a ship with that later, but for now I'm just looking for a step up from the Assault Cruiser.
And to be honest, I really want the Fleet Assault Cruiser, but it would take too long to get it and I really don't feel like grinding towards it. And how is the Excelsior in PVP and PVE compared to the Oddy in PVP and PVE?
Ok, so this thread got me thinking about the Enterprise B and in particular the Excelsior as a ship. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Breen ship but being a Fed character in a Fed uniform I got to missing being in a FED ship. I also found this video on the Excelsior which discusses the benefits and perks of this ship (the original and the retrofit version). The video is entitled Star Trek Online - Excelsior-class Heavy Cruiser Showcase.
So after due consideration research I bought the Fleet Excelsior yesterday from my starbase. Everything I have read thus far is that it has the best turn rate for a cruiser and with PVE and PVP in mind I read too that for a tact captain it is probably the most viable cruiser. Of course everybody will have their opinions.
Anyways, I have only had it for 24hrs and decided to go for the single cannon build as described in the video but with some modifications to suit my own play style. Instead of four rear turrets I have two. I finish the rear with the borg cutting beam and the Omega Torp. My Boff skills are slightly different, particularly where tactical is concerned and have both scatter volley 1 and rapid fire two. For more info on my build just PM me in game as I don't want to bore everyone here but suffice it to say after the initial 'breaking in period' I decided to take it into a few Elite's.
End result: Surprisingly nimble and with the 180 degree single cannons loaded in front a great treat for cannon loving folks like me. I had my doubts at first but so far its been pretty great. I want to run a few more tests and will probably change out the Omega Torp to another turret in the rear but thus far because of the short recharge time for single cannons its a thing of beauty when equipped with the right powers. I was put off at first by the three Eng Boffs and one Sci (ran three tacts on my Breen escort) but so far its actually less work with satisfying results.
Built with PVP in mind I do have some healing powers too to help out escorts. It's obviously not as powerful as my Breen due to having just single cannons up front but suffice it to say it holds its own and it was so far worth the purchase. If you can get the fleet variant (four tactical console slots loaded with appropriate consoles to increase Disruptor damage) and give it a go. After work I was worried today but a few games tonight have belayed any fears altogether. It's a keeper and if your like me, it's as close as your going to get to flying an original movie series ship in the 25th Century! (This ship would be perfect with two universal consoles and in a Connie skin... what can I say, I cant help but love the A more than the
Good Luck!
In relation to the Assault Cruiser...
* The Excelsior-R is the fastest of the three ships (excluding Odyssey saucer sep, which I'll get to later). It is the cruiser that is most suited for cannons, in all likelihood, and has outstanding turning and inertia. You trade in some tankiness for it, though.
The Excelsior-R's bonus, the transwarp jump, has little tactical value unless you're chasing Red Alerts, but it's a neat time saver. However, the Fleet Excelsior-R costs $25 in FSM (5 of them) - but for $20 you can get the C-Store unlock, and then pick up the Fleet Excelsior-R (1 FSM now that you have the C-Store unlock), so you "break even" in that sense and get an account-wide unlock for the C-Store ship. However, it's still less tactical than the Regent in terms of BOff powers, though the Fleet Excel-R does have the typical fleet ship advantages.
* The Regent is the 'battleship' of the sub-Odyssey ships, I would say. It is slower than the Excelsior-R, and slightly slower than the stock Assault Cruiser (as what would be an engine power bonus is directed into the weapons). It is in most ways a side-grade for the existing Assault Cruiser.
The Metreon Gas cannister isn't much good IMO - it's kind of like explosive warp plasma, so if you're a fan of eject warp plasma you'll probably like it, but I've never had much luck. The wide-arc QTorp, however, is pure awesome, and I highly recommend it. It gives you something quite useful for just about any ship that isn't an escort, and it's pretty handy even for escorts.
* The Odyssey is a huge, lumbering pile of fortress that by sheer coincidence someone put engines on. It is considerably more armored and shielded than the others, and if set up properly with the universal slots it has the capacity to be the "most tactical" cruiser with up to 6 tactical BOff abilities. However, in such a setup you're inviting a lot of problems with tossing out tanking and power boosts, so buyer beware there.
If you're going to run the Odyssey the best is the three-pack. This is the maximum flexibility available and, with all three consoles, will boost both the ship's speed slightly, and help with set ability cooldowns, plus some slight set boosts. However, this drops your available consoles from 10 to 7. Furthermore with the three-pack you can choose the hull and try them all out. I favor the tactical hull, as SA requires a constant target lock of over a minute to exceed the third tactical console's damage output, or something along those lines (I forget the math, but it's been crunched).
The saucer separation is neat - it basically turns the Odyssey into what's nearly the fastest and best shielded cruiser in the fleet. However, it is limited with a lengthy cooldown, and you're also out of luck if you're, say, in a mission wherein you need to warp between systems. Plus, it does not change the Odyssey's fundamental nature - a slow, lumbering pile of fortress. You have to be willing to deal with the fact that you'll probably be spending a large percentage of the time merged.
Work Bees are a neat bonus, but the Aquarius I wouldn't carry unless I had to to get the set boosts.
For what it's worth, I currently use the Regent mostly. There's a synergy with it that I have that I don't with other ships, although I plan on swapping back to the Odyssey someday. The Excel-R is also neat sometimes, too, so none are bad ships.
Finally, in terms of the differences between the Free Ody and the C-Store Ody - all the world. The Free Ody is a gimped version of the Science Odyssey with no set consoles, no SA, and no additional console slot. Truth be told, saucer sep is what sold me on the new Ody set, and although I don't use it as much as I used to I am quite satisfied with my purchase, whereas I struggled to find a use for the Free Odyssey as a tac. This is not to say that it is unusable or anything like that, as it is a good ship, but it's more a slower, tougher Star Cruiser than anything resembling the tactical cruiser line.
And so far the Oddy has seemed to be a decent ship to give a second chance, but I don't know, I am just not feeling the Oddy.
Also thanks for all the feedback and help guys, I didn't think I'd get this many responses
idk, wait for the ambassador to come out, it may be a fine offensive cruiser. And if it isn't you can still get whatever you want.
you could go straight for the fleet version of the excelsior...2500 zen or fleet ship modules from the exchange.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers