For basic ship stats alone... the Samsar is better than the Chel Gret. That said, there's a lot of personality and flexibility in the Chel Gret, as well as the ability to slot a number of TAC skills in the CMDR boff seat. It may be weaker in hull stats than the samsar, but IMO I think the Chel Gret is the better ship. That's purely subjective.
With that said, the Samsar is damn hard to hurt with an even halfway competent build. The heavy ENG seating allows redundant heals, along with the LtCDR sci seat that can run GW (which is great to have) or another sci team or transfer shield strength. It can keep up semi-decent FAW-based damage with a beam setup while tanking a heck of a lot of damage. If you are dying too fast, this is the solution to your problems.
EDIT: Oh... I wonder now if you meant the Sarr Theln carrier? It's a totally different flavor of ship, but quite competent at what it does. It's a sci-oriented T6 carrier with access to one of the better frigate pets in the game.
Between the Sarr Theln and Samsar? Go Samsar. Unless you like carriers, you'll be in for system shock with the Sarr Theln and may not enjoy it. The Samsar may lack a lot of tactical capability, but it does fall into an ENG-heavy category that all players will be familiar with by now. Of the two I'd say the Sarr Theln is the better ship by a long shot but it takes a while to get used to, it takes a lot of resources to set up properly, and it can be difficult to master, unless you already have a carrier background in this game (which most probably do not).
I use both the Breen carrier and the kobali ship for 2 of my characters.
I like them both. I get more firepower out of the Breen ship despite fewer weapons because of the boff layout. Yet the kobali ship is plenty sturdy with a better turn and I'm having a blast with calling the artillery strike command power. So having the level 3 command skill is a big bonus.
Overall I will rate all the recent free ships from best to worst:
Kobali - edges out Breen based on ltcdr command power
Breen carrier
Risian corvette - a fun speed ship
Risian luxury liner - very sturdy - turns very very well (the solaton wave combined with warp plasma and tholian rep click + torp spread is still my best overall attack on any ship. Can take down an entire collection of spheres in ISA).
Breen frigate - fragile but packs a good punch
Breen cruiser - not as sturdy as it should be but has decent options for varied builds
Dyson destroyer - Palpatine lighting bolts + 3 sabe me jeebus buttons are fun. Otherwise the ship is awful. (Also after I typed that I realized those features only come with the paid version - so the free version by itself has only 1 feature - awfulness).
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Between the Carrier and the Samsar, they're pretty close in terms of relative usefulness.
However, the Samsar edges out, as it doesn't require further grinding for the Plesh Frigate in order to unlock the Frigate pets (and the grinding needed to get the Dil and Fleet Cred for its Elite Pets, or just Dil for its Adv. Pets).
I've found that turning the Samsar into a Torpedo cruiser to be rather useful (situationally); if you're relying on HY torpedoes. Concentrate Firepower allows for a free HY during their respective duration, and with multiple torps, one or two of them will eat up subsequent HYs by the time your HY2/3 or TS2/3 is ready for another shot. It helps that the Samsar allows Lt.Cmdr level access to Concentrate Firepower 3, which allows for roughly 5 full HY1s.
On the other end, the Samsar also makes for a strong hull and shield tank thanks to Overwhelm Shield Emitters, which effectively drains shields and recharges your own with each shot, on top of its Lt.Cmdr Sci seat and its console (though the console, like the 4-pc space set, can be used on any ship, so it's not as big an advantage factor). I believe Overwhelm rank 3 is also Lt. Cmdr level, which also fits perfectly on the Samsar.
Apples and Oranges.. they're pretty much the antithesis of each other - an offensive 'battle-carrier' and a defensive support cruiser.
That said, I fly both of them on characters whose playstyle can benefit from them. The Sarr Theln is a nasty Drain-ship that can absolutely punish taking systems offline. Coversely, the Samsar is running dual Emitter/Sif Consoles with the Anchored Trait, Extend shields, Rally Point, and Suppression Barrage - it refuses to die(which is good considering it almost always ends up being the center of aggro) and keeps other people alive while launching screens of pew-pew-lasers in every direction. It's pretty trivial to take top spot in CCA with it.
As for Risa.. I'm still secretly hoping for some kind of Satellite/Weather Control Ship that can create exotic damage fields in space similiar to Thermic Induction Fields on the Ground. The Risian consoles, as a whole, have great exotic damage synergy.
Apples and Oranges.. they're pretty much the antithesis of each other - an offensive 'battle-carrier' and a defensive support cruiser.
That said, I fly both of them on characters whose playstyle can benefit from them. The Sarr Theln is a nasty Drain-ship that can absolutely punish taking systems offline. Coversely, the Samsar is running dual Emitter/Sif Consoles with the Anchored Trait, Extend shields, Rally Point, and Suppression Barrage - it refuses to die(which is good considering it almost always ends up being the center of aggro) and keeps other people alive while launching screens of pew-pew-lasers in every direction. It's pretty trivial to take top spot in CCA with it.
As for Risa.. I'm still secretly hoping for some kind of Satellite/Weather Control Ship that can create exotic damage fields in space similiar to Thermic Induction Fields on the Ground. The Risian consoles, as a whole, have great exotic damage synergy.
The Risian Console set screams for a Science version of the ships. Should a T6 Risian SCI Vessel occur, this console set would instantly make it a top of the line SCI Vessel in terms of Exotic Dmg/PGen builds.
I have to agree, i was pleasantly surprised how tough the Samsar was. I was chasing a fleet mate around in my Bulwark and i couldn't crack through the Samsar's defenses. Very nice ship.
Comments
With that said, the Samsar is damn hard to hurt with an even halfway competent build. The heavy ENG seating allows redundant heals, along with the LtCDR sci seat that can run GW (which is great to have) or another sci team or transfer shield strength. It can keep up semi-decent FAW-based damage with a beam setup while tanking a heck of a lot of damage. If you are dying too fast, this is the solution to your problems.
EDIT: Oh... I wonder now if you meant the Sarr Theln carrier? It's a totally different flavor of ship, but quite competent at what it does. It's a sci-oriented T6 carrier with access to one of the better frigate pets in the game.
Between the Sarr Theln and Samsar? Go Samsar. Unless you like carriers, you'll be in for system shock with the Sarr Theln and may not enjoy it. The Samsar may lack a lot of tactical capability, but it does fall into an ENG-heavy category that all players will be familiar with by now. Of the two I'd say the Sarr Theln is the better ship by a long shot but it takes a while to get used to, it takes a lot of resources to set up properly, and it can be difficult to master, unless you already have a carrier background in this game (which most probably do not).
I like them both. I get more firepower out of the Breen ship despite fewer weapons because of the boff layout. Yet the kobali ship is plenty sturdy with a better turn and I'm having a blast with calling the artillery strike command power. So having the level 3 command skill is a big bonus.
Overall I will rate all the recent free ships from best to worst:
Kobali - edges out Breen based on ltcdr command power
Breen carrier
Risian corvette - a fun speed ship
Risian luxury liner - very sturdy - turns very very well (the solaton wave combined with warp plasma and tholian rep click + torp spread is still my best overall attack on any ship. Can take down an entire collection of spheres in ISA).
Breen frigate - fragile but packs a good punch
Breen cruiser - not as sturdy as it should be but has decent options for varied builds
Dyson destroyer - Palpatine lighting bolts + 3 sabe me jeebus buttons are fun. Otherwise the ship is awful. (Also after I typed that I realized those features only come with the paid version - so the free version by itself has only 1 feature - awfulness).
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
I was on about the carrier.
but the cruiser mounted with cannons, was a cruiser light or heavy.
it can out turn the mogh/venger..!
the raider I used for the console for the chell.
but the carrier is a sci based ship with tac set up.
Kobali is a cruiser but very weak v the eclispe/gardian.
However, the Samsar edges out, as it doesn't require further grinding for the Plesh Frigate in order to unlock the Frigate pets (and the grinding needed to get the Dil and Fleet Cred for its Elite Pets, or just Dil for its Adv. Pets).
I've found that turning the Samsar into a Torpedo cruiser to be rather useful (situationally); if you're relying on HY torpedoes. Concentrate Firepower allows for a free HY during their respective duration, and with multiple torps, one or two of them will eat up subsequent HYs by the time your HY2/3 or TS2/3 is ready for another shot. It helps that the Samsar allows Lt.Cmdr level access to Concentrate Firepower 3, which allows for roughly 5 full HY1s.
On the other end, the Samsar also makes for a strong hull and shield tank thanks to Overwhelm Shield Emitters, which effectively drains shields and recharges your own with each shot, on top of its Lt.Cmdr Sci seat and its console (though the console, like the 4-pc space set, can be used on any ship, so it's not as big an advantage factor). I believe Overwhelm rank 3 is also Lt. Cmdr level, which also fits perfectly on the Samsar.
That said, I fly both of them on characters whose playstyle can benefit from them. The Sarr Theln is a nasty Drain-ship that can absolutely punish taking systems offline. Coversely, the Samsar is running dual Emitter/Sif Consoles with the Anchored Trait, Extend shields, Rally Point, and Suppression Barrage - it refuses to die(which is good considering it almost always ends up being the center of aggro) and keeps other people alive while launching screens of pew-pew-lasers in every direction. It's pretty trivial to take top spot in CCA with it.
As for Risa.. I'm still secretly hoping for some kind of Satellite/Weather Control Ship that can create exotic damage fields in space similiar to Thermic Induction Fields on the Ground. The Risian consoles, as a whole, have great exotic damage synergy.
The Risian Console set screams for a Science version of the ships. Should a T6 Risian SCI Vessel occur, this console set would instantly make it a top of the line SCI Vessel in terms of Exotic Dmg/PGen builds.