The fact that its a regular looking equiptment slot indicators that it is swappable. If it wasn't it wouldn't need an equiptment slot at all. While not a certainty that indicates that it is swapable. Same with the Proton DHC.
I am curious if this ship can arm non Proton Cannons as well, where do they fire from when the ship is in Sci mode.
Am i the only one that sees that the transform function isn't new? Yes, it is only for long time vet or life subs, but the vet ship destroyers are tactical science ships. they start out science mode where they have a shield drain ability and they can change to tac mode with the lotus.
Now the changing Boff layout is new and so is the secondary deflector, but i do not agree to the claims that a ship like this has never been done. Looking forward to it but i hope the vet ships get a second deflector if the rest of the science ships do.
I wish there was some way to differentiate between merged threads
Anyway, I said earlier that I was told it was confirmed in a priorityone interview (i would imagine the latest) that the secondary deflector wouldn't be swappable for a new better deflector.
Can anyone confirm or deny this? I really don't want to go back and sit through a whole interview.
The fact that its a regular looking equiptment slot indicators that it is swappable. If it wasn't it wouldn't need an equiptment slot at all. While not a certainty that indicates that it is swapable. Same with the Proton DHC.
I am curious if this ship can arm non Proton Cannons as well, where do they fire from when the ship is in Sci mode.
The Tal Shiar Adapted Borg Warp Core and the Kumari Phaser Wing Cannons are equipment that takes up an equipment slot and is not swappable for most ships. If it was an innate ability, then we would be stuck with it instead of going with some other equipment. After all, not everyone wants a Proton Dual Heavy Cannon or whatever the Secondary Deflector that comes with the Dyson Science Destroyer. The fact that it has an equipment slot doesn't mean it is swappable. All that is known is that Cryptic plans on adding more Secondary Deflector slots to Science ships and the Secondary Deflector that comes with the Science Destroyer is a unique deflector due to the infinity symbol that indicates it has no level.
i know i want the Proton DHC i already got the Torpedo and enough marks and dilth to get the dyson weapon and console just gotta convert all that dilth and wait for stats and info on ships.
Am i the only one that sees that the transform function isn't new? Yes, it is only for long time vet or life subs, but the vet ship destroyers are tactical science ships. they start out science mode where they have a shield drain ability and they can change to tac mode with the lotus.
Now the changing Boff layout is new and so is the secondary deflector, but i do not agree to the claims that a ship like this has never been done. Looking forward to it but i hope the vet ships get a second deflector if the rest of the science ships do.
You're not. First chance I'd get to play with it, but yeah it's not really that new.
Am i the only one that sees that the transform function isn't new? Yes, it is only for long time vet or life subs, but the vet ship destroyers are tactical science ships. they start out science mode where they have a shield drain ability and they can change to tac mode with the lotus.
Now the changing Boff layout is new and so is the secondary deflector, but i do not agree to the claims that a ship like this has never been done. Looking forward to it but i hope the vet ships get a second deflector if the rest of the science ships do.
Yes, transforming is not new in and of itself, but I think it would be a stretch to call the Vet destroyers science ships. By that logic my Mobius Temporal Destroyer, the Breen Warship, and my Odyssey Star Cruiser are all "Science Ships" because they have universal LTC bridge slots that can be used for Science powers.
Even the Vet destroyers don't really have a "science mode". It's called "Regenerative mode" that boosts aux and shield skills, and has an innate tachyon drain power. When you switch to Tactical mode it activates the Phaser lotus (and deactivates the tachyon beams) and switches the power bonus to weapons and accuracy.
What's different about the Dyson Science Destroyers is they actively modify your bridge power tray (upgrading the tac, downgrading the sci and vice-versa), while "unlocking" a 4th fore weapon slot (which may or may not be swappable with other weapons). Combining this with the secondary deflector makes it so that there's plenty new about this ship.
If anything, these ships, based on the stats I've seen so far, are better than our Transformer-ships:
No console for the transformers-mode
9 console-slots, fully usable (unlike the Transformer ships, that needs to assign one slot for transforming).
Variable BO slots, allowing for high versatility.
Roughly same hull and shields.
People have been wanting the transformers without the LTS... Well... there you go...
So far there's no evidence that the mode change is innate. In fact, having it innate would run counter to all the other transforming ships (except the Guramba, I guess), including the 3 vet destroyers and the Ar'kif Retrofit.
All we have is one screenshot that shows the ship in what appears to be tactical mode (since the Proton DHC is exposed in a 4th fore weapon slot), with the secondary deflector, and no consoles or devices equipped.
It could very well be that the ability to transform is, like the Vet destroyers, limited to a console, which would make the Dyson ships like the Vet destroyers and Ar'kif retro effectively 8-console vessels barring a Fleet version or 3-pack release.
The only telltale sign is the power tray, which shows a similar "transformation" icon as highlighted rather than greyed-out, which could mean that the power is active even with no visibly equipped "transformation system" console.
But then again, the screenshot is obviously from some kind of developer mode that exposes all kinds of details and allows various permissions that aren't in the main game.
We'll find out once the dev blogs reveal more details about the ships, I guess.
You DID read the Dev-blog on the creation of the ships, right?
I would... They're too lazy for that... Either they do the whole thing, or nothing.
Granted, the fact that someone pointed out that the ship is without transforming console, may just end up adding one, if it dosent have it already.
My point was that since the screenshot is clearly of developer mode, a working dev might need access to the transformation power and its various animations and effects without having to worry about the ship being equipped.
So it's not that they doctored the screen (though they could have) to hide a hypothetical transformation console, but that the very nature of the way they're accessing the game might allow that kind of thing where it wouldn't let a player do the same.
And besides, we've still got at least a week until the anniversary event starts, and they have a lot of time to decide whether or not transformation will be a console power or innate, and even change their minds after the announcement. What you see on Tribble or the dev blog isn't always what you get on Holodeck or in the forums.
1. What is the Very Rare levelless weapon in the Fore slot?
2. What is that Deflector, its not the Dyson is it a ship specific maybe part of a 2 or 3 piece set?
3. When do other Science ships get the 2 deflectors and will Carriers get them too?
1. A Proton Dual Heavy Cannon that is apparently unlocked when you trigger tactical mode. It is unconfirmed at this time if players will be able to swap it out for other weapons, or if you'll be able to use it on other ships.
2. That is the secondary deflector, a new feature for Science ships that will debut with the Dyson Science Destroyers. It is unknown if the Secondary Deflector is a new class of item (like Warp Cores) or if it is simply an extra deflector (which would allow people to equip a new deflector of their choice in the second slot, allowing all kinds of gnarly set bonus combos). As for whether it is part of a set or not, that is unknown. I wouldn't put it past them.
3. Eventually. Cruisers got Cruiser Commands a couple of months after the Avenger launched, though Birds-of-Prey have not yet gotten Raider flanking, and we're nearing 2 months since the Breen Raider debuted. I would expect Secondary deflectors to hit other science ships to hit by the time the Summer event rolls out. As for carriers, that's unconfirmed. I wouldn't count on it.
We knew we wanted to make a ?Dyson ship?, meaning a ship or ships built by the Dyson Joint Command, inspired by or empowered by technology found in the Solanae Dyson Sphere; however, we also needed to define what that meant. First, we examined which ship classes we?ve made recently to make sure we weren?t making too many of the same type of ship. Next, we considered what made the most logical sense for a ship class that would include Dyson technology. We tossed around the idea of the ship being an Engineer-y Science ship or a Science-y Cruiser, but ultimately we felt that had been done. Then we considered some other options: What about a Destroyer? How about a Warship (like the Breen Chell Grett)? What about a tactically-centric Science vessel? Then it hit us. Why don?t we make a Science ship that can transform between a full-on Science ship and a Destroyer with Science ship stats? That sounded the most interesting to us, and as it was also a type of ship that would allow us to make a variant for each faction, we explored what that would be like.
The keywords in our minds at this point were: ?Transforming Science Destroyer.? What does that mean? I figured the best place to start is with a Science vessel?s stats. That means average hull, very high shield modifier, average turn rate and speed, and 3 Fore / 3 Aft weapon slots. We then decided it would favor Science and Tactical Bridge Officer seats over Engineering, and Science and Tactical Console slots over Engineering (due to its dual Tactical/Science nature). By default, this ship would be a Science vessel, but activating a power could transform it into a more Tactically-centric ship.
We wanted this ship to do something that we?ve never done before, so we came up with the idea of having the ship perform some dynamic bridge officer power swapping. We also wanted it to feature a special weapon that becomes available only when the ship entered Tactical Mode. This ship by default has a Commander Science seat and a Lt. Commander Tactical seat among its bridge officer stations. However, when the ship enters Tactical Mode, the two seats effectively switch. The Commander Science seat is downgraded to Lt. Commander Science, and the Lt. Commander Tactical is upgraded to Commander Tactical. Additionally, Tactical Mode also enables powerful Dual Heavy Proton Cannons, effectively giving the ship 4 Fore weapons and 3 Aft.
The end result is a ship that is very versatile and includes several features that haven?t been seen before in Star Trek Online. I hope this gives you a glimpse into the systems design process of building a starship. The Dyson Science Destroyers have been both a challenge, and a lot of fun to bring into the game.
My prediction is that the transform ability comes from the new secondary deflector or possibly a new device slot item but leaning towards a component of Solanae Secondary Deflector.
On zoom in the ship equipment shown is:
[Mk X Plasma torp, Mk X Plasma BA, Mk X Plasma DBB,Mk ** DHC proton]
[Mk X Neutrino Deflector Array]
[Mk ** Solanae Secondary Deflector]
[Mk X impulse engines]
[Mk XII Singularity core, possibly the Dyson version is equipped?]
[Mk X Shield array]
[Mk X Plasma BA x2, Mk X Plasma torp]
aww got ninja'd by unangbangkay
ps anyone that has the Dyson space set checked to see if the Solanae Secondary Deflector has been added to the Dyson set bonus on Tribble?
3. When do other Science ships get the 2 deflectors and will Carriers get them too?
Carriers have hangars. That's their thing. I suspect that of the different science ship types, only Science Vessels and Support Ships will get the secondary deflectors.
There no special transform ability console. It's intrinsic to the ship. If there were a console it would have a 10th device slot for that console. The Second deflector and the 4th weapon slot showing on the shiip system display tell me this In science mode the 4th forward weapons slot will be "grayed out" and anything in will be unusable.. In destroyer mode it will be available and the second deflector will be grayed out and its bonus's/abilities will not be added/used. Having a slottable console for the conversion would just be a waste, and, if the console is removed from the ship how do you select the mode the ship is in? No, logically the transform ability is intrinsic to the hull.
Why not a 10 device slot ship? Like the oddy and the Bort, wait for the C-store and fleet versions. For now though It's simply not going to need them. That second deflector is easily going to be the equivalent of 2 to 3 science console all by its self, depending on what you slot in there. Note in the screen capture of the Romulan vesion the DHC protons and the second deflector that the ship will come with are both purple quality and Mk Infinity. You'll be able to replace I'm sure but they wont be junk! I also suspect that those specific items will have a set bonus.. look for the other set pieces in the c-store vesions of the ship or earnable through dyson spher rep, or purchasable via a dyson spire fleet unlock would be my best guess if they are part of a set.
For the KDF players this is going to be THE best science ship they have. If far outclasses anything else they have. It wwont have any competition KDF side untill all science ships get the second deflector. Nothing about that second dlector being part of season 8.5 so expect them season 9, along with c-store/fleet versions of the dyson science destroyers. Seeing them sooner then the update to all science ships would seriously imbalanceing the game for no good reason and irritate the players to no end and be just a tad to greedy to put up with.
There no special transform ability console. It's intrinsic to the ship. If there were a console it would have a 10th device slot for that console.
Not true. If by "device slot" you're referring to console slots (devices are consumables like Batteries or reusable items like the Subspace Modulator, please be careful about your terminology), then the Veteran ships have 9 "device slots" and need the console equipped to transform (making them effectively 8-console ships). Same deal with the Ar'Kif retrofit and its annihilation mode. Only the Fleet versions of those ships available from the Spire have 10 total console slots, one of which must be used to house the transformation console.
If a Vet destroyer doesn't have its console it is stuck in "Regenerative Mode", i.e. the science mode. I can't remember if the Tachyon Beam power is available even without the console.
The Second deflector and the 4th weapon slot showing on the shiip system display tell me this In science mode the 4th forward weapons slot will be "grayed out" and anything in will be unusable.. In destroyer mode it will be available and the second deflector will be grayed out and its bonus's/abilities will not be added/used.
Actually, the ship system display doesn't tell you this, because all it does is tell you what's on the ship. If nothing else switching modes simply grays their various icons on the power tray out just like the Phaser Lotus/Tachyon Beam grays out when a Vet ship is in the "opposite" mode.
As for the Secondary Deflector, we don't know anything about them at the moment, so we can't say whether or not a ship in Tactical mode "loses" its 2nd deflector bonuses when it transforms.
If the secondary deflector is anything like a regular deflector, I would bet on the ship NOT losing those bonuses, because deflector bonuses are mostly passive skill additions. As far as we know the Dyson ship still has Science Vessel stats, which means even in Tactical mode it will make heavy use of science powers. If changing to tac mode nerfed those skill bonuses then it wouldn't be as effective.
Having a slottable console for the conversion would just be a waste, and, if the console is removed from the ship how do you select the mode the ship is in? No, logically the transform ability is intrinsic to the hull.
Simple: You don't get to select the mode and the ship is stuck in whatever the default mode is. That's the way it is with the Ar'kif and the Vet ships. Keep in mind that the dev blog itself states the following about the DSD:
By default, this ship would be a Science vessel, but activating a power could transform it into a more Tactically-centric ship.
So it's a Science Vessel first, Destroyer second, which means its default state is science. That means that removing a hypothetical transformation console, if it exists (which I think it does), would lock the ship into Science mode, just like removing the Chimera's DTS locks it into Regenerative mode or removing an Ar'Kif's Singularity console locks it into regular, non-Annihilation mode.
But again, we don't know anything about these ships, and the first set of blog posts is supposed to go up in a matter of hours, so we just need to be patient and hope the first thing on Branflakes posting menu is some hard facts!
Presumably, if Proton weapons are being introduced with these new ships, Proton-centric tactical consoles (the Proton equivilent of a phaser relay for example) should apppear too?
I mean, I know some of the equipment that drops during the Dyson rep grind boosts Proton damage, but they do so as a secondary ability to something else meaning that the boost isn't as significant.
Took them something on the order of 2-3 years to get actual, proton-as-primary damage weapons into the game, and even now they're mainly for roasting dinosaurs in a couple of zones, and even with them around the vast majority of Proton damage inflicted by players in the game, by and large, is as a byproduct of the Protonic Polaron weaponry they're handing out like candy at Halloween.
So while I do anticipate Protons eventually gaining a place alongside Antiprotons, Plasma, and the other energy types (particularly as a PVP-centric damager, since so few gear pieces effectively resist Proton damage ATM), I wouldn't count on it anytime soon.
In fact, I'd bet a month's Zen stipend that we'll get a "Synergy Set" of gear that boosts Phaser or Disruptor damage in the same way that the Jammie, Nukara, Romulan and Obelisk sets do for Polaron, Tetryon, Plasma and Antiproton before we get full implementation of Proton weapons.
Just listened to the Priority One podcast with Al Rivera. The secondary deflector is different than a primary one so no having say a MACO and Borg deflector. The ships come with a special secondary deflector that's part of a set along with a warpcore/singularity you get from the new FE and 2 other pieces he didn't talk about. The Proton DHC that's on the ships cannot be removed. He also said even though the ships are called science destroyers they are classed as multi role science much like the Vesta. And lastly he strongly hinted that since, like the Vesta, it has lots of gadgets it wont have a 10 console version.
Just listened to the Priority One podcast with Al Rivera. The secondary deflector is different than a primary one so no having say a MACO and Borg deflector. The ships come with a special secondary deflector that's part of a set along with a warpcore/singularity you get from the new FE and 2 other pieces he didn't talk about. The Proton DHC that's on the ships cannot be removed. He also said even though the ships are called science destroyers they are classed as multi role science much like the Vesta. And lastly he strongly hinted that since, like the Vesta, it has lots of gadgets it wont have a 10 console version.
I figured as much. The Tactical mode is, ultimately, a gimmick. A cool one that outclasses the ones on the Vet ships (in as far as their change is not as dramatic), but a gimmick.
As for the Vesta, it's already a 10-console ship, like all the other 3-pack ships. It doesn't need a fleet version. But do you mean that he's implying that the DSDs will be 9-console ships only like the Vet ships were for a long time? That might make more sense...at least until they tie a Fleet DSD into the next holding.
Sorry I should have been more clear, its like the Vesta in that it has a lot of gadgets and being that most of those are built in and not consoles there is no need for an extra console slot to house them.
Comments
nothing to indicate that it is either.
:cool:
I am curious if this ship can arm non Proton Cannons as well, where do they fire from when the ship is in Sci mode.
Now the changing Boff layout is new and so is the secondary deflector, but i do not agree to the claims that a ship like this has never been done. Looking forward to it but i hope the vet ships get a second deflector if the rest of the science ships do.
Anyway, I said earlier that I was told it was confirmed in a priorityone interview (i would imagine the latest) that the secondary deflector wouldn't be swappable for a new better deflector.
Can anyone confirm or deny this? I really don't want to go back and sit through a whole interview.
The Tal Shiar Adapted Borg Warp Core and the Kumari Phaser Wing Cannons are equipment that takes up an equipment slot and is not swappable for most ships. If it was an innate ability, then we would be stuck with it instead of going with some other equipment. After all, not everyone wants a Proton Dual Heavy Cannon or whatever the Secondary Deflector that comes with the Dyson Science Destroyer. The fact that it has an equipment slot doesn't mean it is swappable. All that is known is that Cryptic plans on adding more Secondary Deflector slots to Science ships and the Secondary Deflector that comes with the Science Destroyer is a unique deflector due to the infinity symbol that indicates it has no level.
:cool:
http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131006214007/pacificrim/images/8/88/Striker-Eureka-Australian-Jaeger_jpg.jpg ???
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
shut up take my money!!!!!!!
system Lord Baal is dead
Yes, transforming is not new in and of itself, but I think it would be a stretch to call the Vet destroyers science ships. By that logic my Mobius Temporal Destroyer, the Breen Warship, and my Odyssey Star Cruiser are all "Science Ships" because they have universal LTC bridge slots that can be used for Science powers.
Even the Vet destroyers don't really have a "science mode". It's called "Regenerative mode" that boosts aux and shield skills, and has an innate tachyon drain power. When you switch to Tactical mode it activates the Phaser lotus (and deactivates the tachyon beams) and switches the power bonus to weapons and accuracy.
What's different about the Dyson Science Destroyers is they actively modify your bridge power tray (upgrading the tac, downgrading the sci and vice-versa), while "unlocking" a 4th fore weapon slot (which may or may not be swappable with other weapons). Combining this with the secondary deflector makes it so that there's plenty new about this ship.
People have been wanting the transformers without the LTS... Well... there you go...
So far there's no evidence that the mode change is innate. In fact, having it innate would run counter to all the other transforming ships (except the Guramba, I guess), including the 3 vet destroyers and the Ar'kif Retrofit.
All we have is one screenshot that shows the ship in what appears to be tactical mode (since the Proton DHC is exposed in a 4th fore weapon slot), with the secondary deflector, and no consoles or devices equipped.
It could very well be that the ability to transform is, like the Vet destroyers, limited to a console, which would make the Dyson ships like the Vet destroyers and Ar'kif retro effectively 8-console vessels barring a Fleet version or 3-pack release.
The only telltale sign is the power tray, which shows a similar "transformation" icon as highlighted rather than greyed-out, which could mean that the power is active even with no visibly equipped "transformation system" console.
But then again, the screenshot is obviously from some kind of developer mode that exposes all kinds of details and allows various permissions that aren't in the main game.
We'll find out once the dev blogs reveal more details about the ships, I guess.
Let's just say that I find it unlikely that they would create a UI screenshot and bother removing ONLY the transformer console.
system Lord Baal is dead
I really wouldnt put that past them actually.
I am Il Shadow and i approve these Shennanigans!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
You DID read the Dev-blog on the creation of the ships, right?
I would... They're too lazy for that... Either they do the whole thing, or nothing.
Granted, the fact that someone pointed out that the ship is without transforming console, may just end up adding one, if it dosent have it already.
My point was that since the screenshot is clearly of developer mode, a working dev might need access to the transformation power and its various animations and effects without having to worry about the ship being equipped.
So it's not that they doctored the screen (though they could have) to hide a hypothetical transformation console, but that the very nature of the way they're accessing the game might allow that kind of thing where it wouldn't let a player do the same.
And besides, we've still got at least a week until the anniversary event starts, and they have a lot of time to decide whether or not transformation will be a console power or innate, and even change their minds after the announcement. What you see on Tribble or the dev blog isn't always what you get on Holodeck or in the forums.
1. What is the Very Rare levelless weapon in the Fore slot?
2. What is that Deflector, its not the Dyson is it a ship specific maybe part of a 2 or 3 piece set?
3. When do other Science ships get the 2 deflectors and will Carriers get them too?
I am Il Shadow and i approve these Shennanigans!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
1. A Proton Dual Heavy Cannon that is apparently unlocked when you trigger tactical mode. It is unconfirmed at this time if players will be able to swap it out for other weapons, or if you'll be able to use it on other ships.
2. That is the secondary deflector, a new feature for Science ships that will debut with the Dyson Science Destroyers. It is unknown if the Secondary Deflector is a new class of item (like Warp Cores) or if it is simply an extra deflector (which would allow people to equip a new deflector of their choice in the second slot, allowing all kinds of gnarly set bonus combos). As for whether it is part of a set or not, that is unknown. I wouldn't put it past them.
3. Eventually. Cruisers got Cruiser Commands a couple of months after the Avenger launched, though Birds-of-Prey have not yet gotten Raider flanking, and we're nearing 2 months since the Breen Raider debuted. I would expect Secondary deflectors to hit other science ships to hit by the time the Summer event rolls out. As for carriers, that's unconfirmed. I wouldn't count on it.
My prediction is that the transform ability comes from the new secondary deflector or possibly a new device slot item but leaning towards a component of Solanae Secondary Deflector.
On zoom in the ship equipment shown is:
[Mk X Plasma torp, Mk X Plasma BA, Mk X Plasma DBB,Mk ** DHC proton]
[Mk X Neutrino Deflector Array]
[Mk ** Solanae Secondary Deflector]
[Mk X impulse engines]
[Mk XII Singularity core, possibly the Dyson version is equipped?]
[Mk X Shield array]
[Mk X Plasma BA x2, Mk X Plasma torp]
aww got ninja'd by unangbangkay
ps anyone that has the Dyson space set checked to see if the Solanae Secondary Deflector has been added to the Dyson set bonus on Tribble?
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Why not a 10 device slot ship? Like the oddy and the Bort, wait for the C-store and fleet versions. For now though It's simply not going to need them. That second deflector is easily going to be the equivalent of 2 to 3 science console all by its self, depending on what you slot in there. Note in the screen capture of the Romulan vesion the DHC protons and the second deflector that the ship will come with are both purple quality and Mk Infinity. You'll be able to replace I'm sure but they wont be junk! I also suspect that those specific items will have a set bonus.. look for the other set pieces in the c-store vesions of the ship or earnable through dyson spher rep, or purchasable via a dyson spire fleet unlock would be my best guess if they are part of a set.
For the KDF players this is going to be THE best science ship they have. If far outclasses anything else they have. It wwont have any competition KDF side untill all science ships get the second deflector. Nothing about that second dlector being part of season 8.5 so expect them season 9, along with c-store/fleet versions of the dyson science destroyers. Seeing them sooner then the update to all science ships would seriously imbalanceing the game for no good reason and irritate the players to no end and be just a tad to greedy to put up with.
Not true. If by "device slot" you're referring to console slots (devices are consumables like Batteries or reusable items like the Subspace Modulator, please be careful about your terminology), then the Veteran ships have 9 "device slots" and need the console equipped to transform (making them effectively 8-console ships). Same deal with the Ar'Kif retrofit and its annihilation mode. Only the Fleet versions of those ships available from the Spire have 10 total console slots, one of which must be used to house the transformation console.
If a Vet destroyer doesn't have its console it is stuck in "Regenerative Mode", i.e. the science mode. I can't remember if the Tachyon Beam power is available even without the console.
Actually, the ship system display doesn't tell you this, because all it does is tell you what's on the ship. If nothing else switching modes simply grays their various icons on the power tray out just like the Phaser Lotus/Tachyon Beam grays out when a Vet ship is in the "opposite" mode.
As for the Secondary Deflector, we don't know anything about them at the moment, so we can't say whether or not a ship in Tactical mode "loses" its 2nd deflector bonuses when it transforms.
If the secondary deflector is anything like a regular deflector, I would bet on the ship NOT losing those bonuses, because deflector bonuses are mostly passive skill additions. As far as we know the Dyson ship still has Science Vessel stats, which means even in Tactical mode it will make heavy use of science powers. If changing to tac mode nerfed those skill bonuses then it wouldn't be as effective.
Simple: You don't get to select the mode and the ship is stuck in whatever the default mode is. That's the way it is with the Ar'kif and the Vet ships. Keep in mind that the dev blog itself states the following about the DSD:
So it's a Science Vessel first, Destroyer second, which means its default state is science. That means that removing a hypothetical transformation console, if it exists (which I think it does), would lock the ship into Science mode, just like removing the Chimera's DTS locks it into Regenerative mode or removing an Ar'Kif's Singularity console locks it into regular, non-Annihilation mode.
But again, we don't know anything about these ships, and the first set of blog posts is supposed to go up in a matter of hours, so we just need to be patient and hope the first thing on Branflakes posting menu is some hard facts!
You would think that, but Proton Damage was introduced waaaay back in the Devidian series, probably because fighting ghosts with a gun that fired streams of Protons was a cool reference.
Took them something on the order of 2-3 years to get actual, proton-as-primary damage weapons into the game, and even now they're mainly for roasting dinosaurs in a couple of zones, and even with them around the vast majority of Proton damage inflicted by players in the game, by and large, is as a byproduct of the Protonic Polaron weaponry they're handing out like candy at Halloween.
So while I do anticipate Protons eventually gaining a place alongside Antiprotons, Plasma, and the other energy types (particularly as a PVP-centric damager, since so few gear pieces effectively resist Proton damage ATM), I wouldn't count on it anytime soon.
In fact, I'd bet a month's Zen stipend that we'll get a "Synergy Set" of gear that boosts Phaser or Disruptor damage in the same way that the Jammie, Nukara, Romulan and Obelisk sets do for Polaron, Tetryon, Plasma and Antiproton before we get full implementation of Proton weapons.
I figured as much. The Tactical mode is, ultimately, a gimmick. A cool one that outclasses the ones on the Vet ships (in as far as their change is not as dramatic), but a gimmick.
As for the Vesta, it's already a 10-console ship, like all the other 3-pack ships. It doesn't need a fleet version. But do you mean that he's implying that the DSDs will be 9-console ships only like the Vet ships were for a long time? That might make more sense...at least until they tie a Fleet DSD into the next holding.