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What are the best escorts out there currently? (besides the JHAS)

voporakvoporak Member Posts: 5,621 Arc User
edited April 2013 in Federation Discussion
I've asked around, but I can't seem to find what people think are the 'best' escorts. If there is a list of them, please point me there.

I currently have the Fleet TER, and am thinking about getting the Fleet patrol escort. Is this a good choice, or should I aim for something else? Also, I've seen some incredibly unkillable escorts; if anyone knows a good build for them, would you please share it with me?

EDIT: I have the mirror patrol escort, if I throw it away will I still be able to use the Terran yellow material on it or not?
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Post edited by voporak on
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Comments

  • istvaanshogaatsuistvaanshogaatsu Member Posts: 134 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    You will be quite happy in the fleet tactical escort retrofit, or the fleet advanced escort. Both approach the JHAS in performance.
  • skyranger1414skyranger1414 Member Posts: 1,785 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I think the best escort is the one that will fit your playstyle best. Of course there's a list of the top end escorts but the one that fits you best will depend on how aggressive and risky is your playstyle. If you're the type of player to go all out and defenses are secondary concerns the Fleet Defiant or the Kumari are definetely for you. If you're a slightly less crazy the Fleet patrol, fleet MVAE, fleet HEC , or temporal destroyer would work really well for you. Of those last ones which one will really be up to what you prefer to have a schtick.
  • wirtddwirtdd Member Posts: 211 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit / Kumari (and I mean THE Kumari, the tactical one).
    Bastet
  • squishkinsquishkin Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I'm not actually a fan of the JHAS, I prefer my Mobius destroyer.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited March 2013
    This content has been removed.
  • smokeybacon90smokeybacon90 Member Posts: 2,252 Arc User
    edited March 2013
    I have never understood the obsession with Fleet Defiant compared to Fleet Advanced.
    EnYn9p9.jpg
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited April 2013
    This content has been removed.
  • voporakvoporak Member Posts: 5,621 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    patrickngo wrote: »
    5 Tac consoles and an extra seat for Tac team, better turn rate, and a discount if you bought the Defiant-R with its Cloak console. The Fleet Defiant's built as a definite "Bugship Competitor" if not outright Bugship killer, in good hands it's just about as effective as a bug in FvK play...

    That is the ship I have currently (F-TER). Do you know a good build or can direct me to one?
    I ask nothing but that you remember me.
  • mandoknight89mandoknight89 Member Posts: 1,687 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    patrickngo wrote: »
    Best in descending order:


    Jem'hadar Attack ship (overall best)
    Fleet Defiant
    Kumari.
    Armitage w/ Adv.Danubes
    MVAE(Fleet+C-store console)

    Fleet Light Escort(Fleet Saber)

    Advanced Escort/Patrol Escort (they're about equal)
    Fleet Patrol and Steamrunner are also good. They lack a little bit of the pure power of the 5-tac console ships, but they can run more armor and are rather resilient.
    patrickngo wrote: »
    5 Tac consoles and an extra seat for Tac team, better turn rate, and a discount if you bought the Defiant-R with its Cloak console.
    Fleet Advanced Escort also has 5 tac consoles and the generally-reviled third Tac Ensign power (two Tac slots can run TT1 at the minimum cooldown, no doffs needed, the third is useless on an all-cannon build, meaning you need to mix it up a bit with beams or torpedoes to make that third En Tac slot useful), but switches the Lt Sci and LtCdr Tac of the Defiant around (for LtC Sci and Lt Tac), as well as having 3 Sci consoles instead of 3 Eng.

    In the end, the main gameplay differences are the Sci boff power vs the Tac boff power, a small amount of turn rate, 3 Sci/2 Eng consoles vs 3 Eng/2 Sci, the C-Store console, and some health (Fleet Advanced has +1100 base hull and +.09 shields vs the Fleet Tactical).
  • icybrillianceicybrilliance Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    patrickngo wrote: »
    5 Tac consoles and an extra seat for Tac team, better turn rate, and a discount if you bought the Defiant-R with its Cloak console. The Fleet Defiant's built as a definite "Bugship Competitor" if not outright Bugship killer, in good hands it's just about as effective as a bug in FvK play...

    This underscores the problem.

    Fleet AE also has 5 tac consoles so no advantage to Defiant.

    Defiant does have slight advantage in turn rate at 17 vs 16 for AE. But with MVAM AE can add +5 or even +10 turn with gamma section. Which would be an overwhelming advantage for AE if not for the long timers involved.

    Fleet AE also has the discount if you bought MVAE.

    So really it's about the cloak which is fair enough. But everything else you pointed out as an advantage, isn't so.

    Also Fleet AE has more hull, shield, and crew.
  • coffeemikecoffeemike Member Posts: 942 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Temporal Destroyer is pretty awesome.
    ~My current ship and build~
  • age03age03 Member Posts: 1,664 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    I would say all escorts are good depends on if you want to buy one or not.
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  • sunfranckssunfrancks Member Posts: 3,925 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Currently using the fleet HEC. My escort of choice right now, even over my Andorian shp..
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  • shar487ashar487a Member Posts: 1,292 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    coffeemike wrote: »
    Temporal Destroyer is pretty awesome.

    I'd have to agree here. In doing some private PVP scrimmage testing with my fleet mates, my Mobius usually destroyed everything it faced. With a very thick hull + shield (by escort standards), the temporal inversion field via Temporal Warfare set gives the Mobius a HUGE power recharge and mobility advantage while crippling < 5km opponents with the inverse skill and movement slowing effect.
  • snoggymack22snoggymack22 Member Posts: 7,084 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Disregarding your thread title, I'm posting here to recommend the JHAS. It pretty much breaks the rules and is good at everything.
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  • dwhornetdwhornet Member Posts: 108 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    For PvE and PvP I'd recommend the destroyer as the best all around choice because of the flexibility. It's probably one of the best ships I own. Pros include an epic shield tank, with just enough boff positions to fully support an all cannon build, which works well IMHO with this build.

    TT /Beta 1/ RF2 / RF3
    TT/ Beta 1

    eptw1 /eptw2
    epts 1

    PH/Feedback/GW


    PvP changes

    TAC: TT/ RF1 / Omega 1/ RF3
    SCI: PH/HE/TTS2

    Fleet defiant in comparison has way to many tactical positions IMHO. Fleet Patrol escort is also a great ship, however I still feel the destroyer beats it out in versatility. The Fleet Advanced escort maybe top dog in general for my play style but I don't have access to it. HEC, or the JHEC can run probably the best defense rating with the right doffs, and a wing of tractor beams can be super annoying to PvPers.
  • age03age03 Member Posts: 1,664 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    The Destroyer can't cloak like Retrofit Defiant can which is also great for PvP ask any Kdf and they will tell you.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Age StarTrek-Gamers Administrator
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    Star Trek Gamers
  • akpaakpa Member Posts: 250 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    the andorian one has 5 weap slots in the front and 5 tactical consoles. that's why it can put a huge dps, but it can't cloack and in pvp the cloacking device is pretty awesome.
    my post's number is higher than smirk's dps
  • galvinorgalvinor Member Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    A list of the best escorts can't be written. All depends on how you play, as someone said before.

    The JHAS is really awesome, and it's the only one that can be considered the best of the best, because of the astonishing turn rate it has, so it can outmaneuver any other ship even the best escorts and put on their backs. The problem? It's very hard to get one of them, and (for me) is an ugly ship xD

    Having this noticed, the rest of the escorts are so different ones from anothers. if you want a very high dps but you don't care about being blowed up in few hits, you will go for one, and if you value survivability and resilience at the cost of a little firepower, you will choose others.

    Ordered by dps and survivability, I'll put the most known escorts this way:

    more DPS --- kumari line/fleet defiant --- fleet MVAE --- fleet patrol/mobius --- fleet HEC/JHEC --- more resilience

    My personal choice? the fleet patrol. I'm thinking about testing the fleet MVAE and the fleet HEC when i have the chance, but i'll never go with the defiant or kumari. I'm not comfortable with this fragile ships that can be blown up in 1 hit in an stf. But, as I said, all depends on how you play. I love tanking, but this game forced me to play with more aggressive ships, and the work "teamwork" doesn't exist here, so this are the reasons why I chose the fleet patrol. Very high dps with decent survibability for such a small ship (aprox 0.25 deaths per stf)
  • baudlbaudl Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    i would also count the breen cruiser, though it is refered to as a cruiser.

    13 turnrate is high enough for PVE, and the 4th rear weapon slot can add some firepower. very durable setup, and to a certain extend versatile.

    i would even go as far as to say it is preferable over the fleet MVAE for PVE (though it has a tac console less, but compensates with 1 additional rear weapon)


    the escort i like the most however, is the fleet defiant on fed side and the guramba on the klingon side.
    then the breen cruiser

    i do not own the kumari (yet), but i think i could like that ship too
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  • dalnar83dalnar83 Member Posts: 2,420 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Steamrunner is great all-purpose escort. Very tough, but still for good offensive build.
    "Cryptic Studio’s Jack Emmert (2010): Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
  • scrimpinionscrimpinion Member Posts: 76 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    I strongly recommend the engineering (or science - for all intents and purposes they are basically the same) variant of the andorian ship.


    You can deck it out to be a *slightly* squishier, more nimble & higher DPS version of the Fleet patrol escort.

    It may not have the 5 tac console slots some of those other fancy escorts do, but it DOES still have 5 fore weapon slots, which potentially gives it more punch than any ship with 4 weapons in the front arc.

    Boff layout is flexible and efficient, and you can make sure every slot is useful.
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  • jornadojornado Member Posts: 918 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Personally my vote is the Mobius with temporal warfare set. Great survivability, some cool tricks, and dead sexy if you shell out some EC for the time shuttle skin.

    Second choice, Fleet Patrol.

    Third, FTER.

    Fourth Kumari.

    Fifth, I'd have to agree with another poster, Breen warship can be very interesting in an escort build.
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  • andoriansrusandoriansrus Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    galvinor wrote: »

    Having this noticed, the rest of the escorts are so different ones from anothers. if you want a very high dps but you don't care about being blowed up in few hits, you will go for one, and if you value survivability and resilience at the cost of a little firepower, you will choose others.

    Ordered by dps and survivability, I'll put the most known escorts this way:

    more DPS --- kumari line/fleet defiant --- fleet MVAE --- fleet patrol/mobius --- fleet HEC/JHEC --- more resilience

    Escort Captains that are willing to sacrifice a little DPS for a little survivability, deserve neither the DPS nor the Survivability..... (paraphrased quote from Ben Franklin)

    that being said it really comes down to what your end goal with the ship is.... I love my Kumari... as a longtime andorian player the choice for what escort became simple the day that the Kumari 3-pack became available.....
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  • scrimpinionscrimpinion Member Posts: 76 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    andoriansrus wrote: »
    as a longtime andorian player the choice for what escort became simple the day that the Kumari 3-pack became available.....

    *nods head & antennae in agreement*

    You know what all the humans say: "Once you go blue..." :>; )
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ussultimatumussultimatum Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    patrickngo wrote: »
    5 Tac consoles and an extra seat for Tac team, better turn rate, and a discount if you bought the Defiant-R with its Cloak console. The Fleet Defiant's built as a definite "Bugship Competitor" if not outright Bugship killer, in good hands it's just about as effective as a bug in FvK play...
    icybrilliance wrote: »
    This underscores the problem.

    Fleet AE also has 5 tac consoles so no advantage to Defiant.

    Defiant does have slight advantage in turn rate at 17 vs 16 for AE. But with MVAM AE can add +5 or even +10 turn with gamma section. Which would be an overwhelming advantage for AE if not for the long timers involved.

    Fleet AE also has the discount if you bought MVAE.

    So really it's about the cloak which is fair enough. But everything else you pointed out as an advantage, isn't so.

    Also Fleet AE has more hull, shield, and crew.


    And as of now, on Tribble


    • Updated all separating ships, like the Galaxy, Odyssey, Bortsaqu', D'kyr, and Prometheus.
      • If you launch your separated craft, and then your ship is destroyed, your separated craft will no longer re-dock/despawn.
        • It will continue to fight until it is disabled.
      • When you respawn, it will be ready to follow you, fight with you, or redock with you if you choose to.
      • This also ensures that if your ship is destroyed while one of your separated craft is deployed, your toggle ability wont deactivate and go into cooldown.


    So the option is there to have an even better turn rate than the Defiant, with death no longer being an impediment.
  • andoriansrusandoriansrus Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    scrimpinion wrote: »
    *nods head & antennae in agreement*

    You know what all the humans say: "Once you go blue..." :>; )

    nothing else will do....


    BLUE POWAH !!!

    just the man (Starfleet) tryin to keep us Andorians Down......
    Major Xi'Zzin
    I.R.W. Raptor's Claw
    Storm Eagle Class Warbird Fleet Ha'feh
    I have never trusted humans, and I never will
  • esquire1980esquire1980 Member Posts: 152 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    galvinor wrote: »
    A list of the best escorts can't be written. All depends on how you play, as someone said before.

    The JHAS is really awesome, and it's the only one that can be considered the best of the best, because of the astonishing turn rate it has, so it can outmaneuver any other ship even the best escorts and put on their backs. The problem? It's very hard to get one of them, and (for me) is an ugly ship xD

    Having this noticed, the rest of the escorts are so different ones from anothers. if you want a very high dps but you don't care about being blowed up in few hits, you will go for one, and if you value survivability and resilience at the cost of a little firepower, you will choose others.

    Ordered by dps and survivability, I'll put the most known escorts this way:

    more DPS --- kumari line/fleet defiant --- fleet MVAE --- fleet patrol/mobius --- fleet HEC/JHEC --- more resilience

    My personal choice? the fleet patrol. I'm thinking about testing the fleet MVAE and the fleet HEC when i have the chance, but i'll never go with the defiant or kumari. I'm not comfortable with this fragile ships that can be blown up in 1 hit in an stf. But, as I said, all depends on how you play. I love tanking, but this game forced me to play with more aggressive ships, and the work "teamwork" doesn't exist here, so this are the reasons why I chose the fleet patrol. Very high dps with decent survibability for such a small ship (aprox 0.25 deaths per stf)

    The andy is really a ship that depends on how you build it. I have the eng version and it "tanks" better than my excel did while throwing 3 times the DPS. 99/100 times I end up tanking in STFs, due to that DPS, and fleet instances and it seems to do just fine. While I have 2 APOs loaded (for PVP reasonings), most of the time in PVE fleets (including 20 mans) I run at 1/4 engines to do as much DPS as I can throw.
  • thowasthowas Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Escort...
    Tested many of them.
    My favourite however has become the Armitage.
    Hated it from the begining, always got killed in it too much..

    But it all has to do with your playstyle.

    Defiant and Fleet defiant are pretty good, if you go for an all cannon build and some purp consoles with it.
    Patrol Escort, it has alot more survivability compared to the Defiant+ and it creams out almost as much damage, plus you can add a few tricks if you are into that.

    Used to fly the AE aswell, pretty good alround ship.

    Kumari Khyzon.
    The 2nd on my list of favourites.
    Depending on your skill set, you can make this one do alot of damage with sci abilitys.
    And it's pretty fun to fly!
    Uni: EptS1-2
    Eng1 - EPtW1
    Sci - HE1 - FbP1
    If you want a more sturdier build you can change the FbP1 to HE2 and you'll be pretty good at taking the most powerfull shots and survive them.
    But i would not recomend it for pvp, not my way of building though.
  • scrimpinionscrimpinion Member Posts: 76 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    you know, I keep seeing the Fleet Defiant touted as either having MORE dps than even the 5-tac Kumari, or as much.

    I'm not so certain. In fact, I think that, just judging by what it looks like "on paper," all three kumari variants would either out-dps or at least have as much dps as the fleet defiant.

    The fleet defiant has a maximum of 4 DHCs up front, and for maximum alpha strike potential, can put 3 turrets in the rear. PLUS, that 15% bonus damage from de-cloaking, but I assume that doesn't last long, and it's not repeatable quickly...you have to be out of combat to cloak again, yeah?

    Now, your average turret is worth what... 1/4 of a DHC as far as dps goes? It seems to me that trading a turret for a weapon 4x as damaging more than compensates for the tiny edge (if any, I couldn't do the math if I wanted to) that de-cloak burst gives you, and not having to wait to re-cloak plus the above can compensate for a 5th tac console over time.

    So, I reckon *all* kumari variants with 5x DHCs & a couple turrets will, over time, out-pew pew any Fleet Defiant with 4x DHCs & 3 Turrets. So it would stand to reason that the 5-tac console Kumari will out-dps the defiant by a larger margin than the other two.


    what am I missin?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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