Nautilus v. Eternal v. Sutherland/Laeosa

sirmayday

So, the announcement of T6 Research Vessels has me sold on making a Space Magic exotic damage build for a couple of my alts. I already own (but under-utilize) the Nautilus and the Eternal from the Temporal Agent pack, and in considering the Sutherland/Laeosa (matching the factions of the toons in question) realized that, looking over the stats for them, I'm not very good at interpreting them. It looks like the research vessels are a little less maneuverable, and a little tankier. I also like their BOff seating, with the intent of using the LtC Eng/Temp seat as a dedicated Temporal Operative seat, and using the Universal seat for utility engineering powers. Before committing to the bundle, though, I thought I'd see what more experienced space wizards think.

tempusmagus

There has already been a heavy discussion here https://redd.it/5ebrza. If you are a ship collector, like faction based ships or prefer the look of the new ones, go with them.

sirmayday

And that's why I need to keep an eye on Reddit. Thanks, temp, that was exactly what I needed.

vetteguy904

i'll buy this set over the sovvy set.

stee1max

Hands down, the Eternal class is one hell of a ship with ability to slot the Recursive 3. Call it the Crystalline Insta-killer. On the new Nebula you will be exchanging temporal abilities on the Lt. Com engineering seat for ditching essential EPtW3 (or DEM with Marion), Aux2SIF in combo with Strategist spec, and a couple more abilities that you'd really want on engineering, but couldn't slot due to the aforementioned temporal abilities, in case you are prioritizing them above everything else. The Nebula is an A-OK GW/DRB spammer.

e30ernest

IMO the differences between these ship really only matter if you are min-maxing. DPS-wise all of these ships will do fine. The individual stats themselves do not matter as much as the seating options the ships have. Looks can also be a consideration. In this case, it really is up to your preference.

Me personally, I prefer the Eternal because of its balance of survivability vs raw damage potential (against the Nautilus which can have a higher damage ceiling in some cases), good trait (for exotic damage), and good console set (the 3-pc bundle is great). These ships are also cross-faction. So for the price of a single pack, they are a real bargain (you get 3 different classes of ships that any faction can use). That is, if you can stand the looks (I personally hate the Chronos' and Ouroboros' looks).

nikeix

I find slapping a Tholian shield in the cosmetic slot clears up a lot of my visual quibbles with the 31c ships .

Good to hear they're all pretty similar in performance, as I have the Eternal already and can basically just skip the new ones then. I'll read the reddit thread for details though, so thanks for bringing that to our attention .

markhawkman

The new trait is pretty neat though

irenvelle

for pvp nautilus>eternal>sutherland
for pve sutherland>eternal>nautilus

warmaker001b

If I didn't have any of the mentioned science vessels, I go for effectiveness, so the Eternal would be my premier choice.

Eternal is a very nice deal for a Science Vessel. Cross Faction, very flexible, FULL access to the Science oriented Temporal BOFF abilities (Helloooo Recursive Shearing III). Not to mention access to Molecular Reconstruction and Support toggle from it:

Self: +10 Max Auxiliary Power
Self: +20% Exotic Damage
Self: +40 Control Expertise
Grants 1 Support Counter once every 10 seconds while in combat
Self: -16.7% Energy Weapon Damage

For a Science build, that is very hard to top. The only thing rivaling that is Intel access Science Vessels having Override Subsystem Safeties to do crazy things. But even OSS requires a BOFF ability slot. Molecular Reconstruction is built into the ship as part of the specialist ship's "gimmick," the same way Gather Intel is for the Scryer and Pilot Maneuvers are for Pilot Escorts.

Honestly, the only department where the upcoming SCI Vessel Bundle shines are in Faction ship appearances. I'm not fond of the Temporal Ship appearance, but I can deal with it due to the awesome stats. Even the Chronos Temporal Dread is amazing.

tempusmagus

irenvelle wrote: »

for pvp nautilus>eternal>sutherland
for pve sutherland>eternal>nautilus

I'm not familiar enough with pvp to give any advice on that, but for pve, I disagree. My Eternal build has been performing just shy of my Flambard in ISA. The new faction ships don't quite have the seating or consoles to reach that sort of potential. I know that the top CCA run from @avearis was done with an Eternal as well. That doesn't mean that any of these ships are bad or mediocre, they are good.