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Forums > Home› Star Trek Online General Discussion

Escort or Cruiser for new Rear Admiral?

jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
in Star Trek Online General Discussion
I just got back into gaming from a 3 year lapse and I just got promoted to rear admiral... I am having trouble deciding whether to get an escort or a cruiser for the free ship... I have tried the escort as captain and it rocks but it seems that my duty officers fit the cruisers too... I also got some beams and cannons... so I'm not sure what to get... Should I get the cruiser and try to arm or retrofit it to turn and fly like an escort, or should I just stick with an escort and fit in engineering consoles?

Any help?

Thanks

Answers

  • UnknownUnknown
    This content has been removed.
  • sennahcheribsennahcherib Member Posts: 2,823 Arc User
    coldnapalm wrote: »
    Depends on what you like to fly really. I personally hate cruisers. I mean really, if my ship has a turn rate of under 40 degrees per second, I hate flying it. If you liked flying escorts before, I would say stick with that. Getting a cruiser to fly like an escort is a fool's errand. As for beams vs cannons...beams...no really. It will do like twice the damage per second of cannons.

    indeed. + at low levels, beams is the easy way to play; FAW everywhere, FAW everytime. Cannons are more funny and you must use your ship at its full potential (shield, armor, turn rate) and also your brain; your brain is not needed when you use FAW :smiley: the choice is yours. :p
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    edited October 2015
    It's quite possible to build an Escort with a full beam loadout. Nothing forcing you to use cannons on them. It used to be that DHCs were the best choice for an escort, but with various improvements to Beam Fire At Will, beams have become a bit of the non-plus-ultra weapon.

    There are some Cruisers that can be made maneuverable, but I think none of the free ones at Rear Admiral qualify for that. Something like the Intel Cruiser or the Battle Cruiser might work.

    If you like Escort speed and maneuverability, pick that, and you can still decide whether you want to go beam arrays, dual beam banks or dual heavy cannons.
    The Patrol Escort might be your best choice for Tier 5 Escort then, since it still has an engineering focus.


    Unless... you get a Tier 5 Retrofit token. Then I think your option is the Tactical Escort Retrofit?
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    thanks for the advice... im sorry for my ignorance coz i haven't played the game in a while... What does FAW mean?
  • nikephorusnikephorus Member Posts: 2,744 Arc User
    Fire at Will - It's an aoe tactical attack skill that you can use with beam arrays, omni-directional beam arrays, and dual beam banks.
    Tza0PEl.png
  • jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    mustrumridcully0 wrote: »
    It's quite possible to build an Escort with a full beam loadout. Nothing forcing you to use cannons on them. It used to be that DHCs were the best choice for an escort, but with various improvements to Beam Fire At Will, beams have become a bit of the non-plus-ultra weapon.

    There are some Cruisers that can be made maneuverable, but I think none of the free ones at Rear Admiral qualify for that. Something like the Intel Cruiser or the Battle Cruiser might work.

    If you like Escort speed and maneuverability, pick that, and you can still decide whether you want to go beam arrays, dual beam banks or dual heavy cannons.
    The Patrol Escort might be your best choice for Tier 5 Escort then, since it still has an engineering focus.


    Unless... you get a Tier 5 Retrofit token. Then I think your option is the Tactical Escort Retrofit?


    Yes i got the rear admiral token... but i dont think i can get the tactical escort retrofit... i think my options are limited to advanced escort or the advanced cruiser... but i have to check on that...
  • dareaudareau Member Posts: 2,390 Arc User
    Rear Admiral (L40) is where you grab your "final" free ship (at least ones from the levelling process). Therefore, unless you have access to C-store stuff from your earlier days, you might be "stuck" in this ship for a while.

    And to complicate matters a touch, you actually have 6 ships to pick from - 2 Escorts, 2 Sciences, 2 Cruisers. The "major" difference between the ship(s) is how they set up the "secondary" BOff seating & consoles...

    To "summarize" these T5 "freebies":
    Cmdr & Lt Cmdr will be "class" (so Cruiser = Engie).
    2 Lt. slots, one of each "remaining" class.
    The Ensign slot will be "different", based on what "secondary" the ship has.
    These ships have a 4/3/2 console layout, the 4 being the "class" consoles, the 3 being the "class" that has the Ensign slot, the 2 being what's left over.
    Turn, hull, inertial will vary "some", based on the class type (tacticals typically turn a touch faster but have a little less hull...)

    Yeah, I know you didn't mention Science ships, but since I'm a Sci captain through and through, I can use them to explain a little more what I'm talking about...

    The RSV (Luna look-alike) is the Science (so Cmdr/LtCmdr = Sci, 4 Sci console) ship that has a "tactical secondary", so that ensign slot I spoke of above? Tactical. Console layout? 4S / 3T / 2E.
    DSSV (Titan look-alike) is the "Engineering Secondary", so you have an ensign Engineer, 4S / 3E / 2T. The DSSV has a touch more hull (slight touch, as Sci ships are notoriously low-hulled), but the RSV has 1 or 2 points better in turn and better inertia ratings, making her a touch more maneuverable.

    Can't remember their names at the moment, but I know the Promethius (Advanced?) is the "Science-y" escort over the Patrol(?) escort that's got a little more Engineering - And I vaguely recall the Soverign is the slightly more tactical cruiser than the Star(?) Cruiser...
    Detecting big-time "anti-old-school" bias here. NX? Lobi. TOS/TMP Connie? Super-promotion-box. (aka the two hardest ways to get ships) Excelsior & all 3 TNG "big hero" ships? C-Store. Please Equalize...

    To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
  • jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    thanks for your answers but there are also some that says for tier 5 ships, better choose the assault cruisers... so im not sure what to choose... im now playing shadow play (romulian mystery) using the defiant class and im having a hard time defeating the romulan guard, is this because of my ship? i mean i already placed as much upgrades as i can and i still am having hard time... Should i stick with the escort because im used to it or try the cruiser for its "tanky" character?
  • sle1989sle1989 Member Posts: 552 Arc User
    I'd say choose the assault cruiser, so you get an idea of it's play style compared to an escort. This is the last free ship you can get, so from here on out you will need to buy a ship from the Cstore if you want a better ship. In my opinion you will want to know if you'll like cruiser play style before spending 3k zen on a ship.
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  • mackbolan01mackbolan01 Member Posts: 580 Arc User
    don't forget there are lots of mirror universe ships on the exchange that may suit your play style better
  • jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    im considering
    sle1989 wrote: »
    I'd say choose the assault cruiser, so you get an idea of it's play style compared to an escort. This is the last free ship you can get, so from here on out you will need to buy a ship from the Cstore if you want a better ship. In my opinion you will want to know if you'll like cruiser play style before spending 3k zen on a ship.
    sle1989 wrote: »
    I'd say choose the assault cruiser, so you get an idea of it's play style compared to an escort. This is the last free ship you can get, so from here on out you will need to buy a ship from the Cstore if you want a better ship. In my opinion you will want to know if you'll like cruiser play style before spending 3k zen on a ship.

    Yes, i am still considering that... but ive played cruisers in the past and the turn rate is so bad... it feels so sluggish but they were tier 2 and 3... so im not sure if the handling of a tier 5 cruiser would change...
  • jereboy0524jereboy0524 Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    mackbolan01 wrote: »
    don't forget there are lots of mirror universe ships on the exchange that may suit your play style better

    really, i thought only items can only be dealt with on the exchange.... im sorry havent played in a long time...

  • UnknownUnknown
    This content has been removed.
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