Unless the 4th ship of the 2021 bundle is amazing AND they surprise us with a Legendaries-only option, my current plan is to show some support for a bundle I actually see value in and grab the 4 ship Recon Destroyer bundle. I've always wanted the New Orleans anyway, I like the design of the Romulan and Jem'Hadar versions, and since they're Intel I'll be able to use OSS. What I'm really curious about is how the Romulan, Klingon, and Dominion versions compare to ships I'm currently using. My Romulan toon is flying the Morrigu (my main complaint with this one is I've decided to transform this into a Cooperative themed toon, but the assimilated shields look underwhelming on the Morrigu), my Klingon is using the Kurak, and my aliengen Vorta occasionally uses the Jem'Hadar Strike Ship (usually I stick to her T5U-X JHDC though).
TL,DR: How do the Recon Destroyers compare to the Morrigu/Kurak and the Jem'Hadar Strike Ship?
Some things to keep in mind: I don't do meta builds aside from using Aux2Bat, and most of these would be using beams cause I prefer how they look over cannons (though if I decide I like the Ketha I might use cannons on that).
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The recon destroyers all get the Destroyer mastery package vs the Morrigu/Kurak that get the battlecruiser or tactical warbird packages. The New Orleans and that line will give you greater crit chance and severity vs the Morrigu/Kurak just off of passive stats. You're also looking at a 4/3 layout with an experimental weapon vs a 5/3 layout with the Kurak, but the same as the Morrigu. For the New Orleans you're looking at a 2/4/5 layout with a console slant towards science and tactical vs the Morrigu/Kurak running a more eng/tac heavy layout. Recon destroyers also have a lower hull vs your Kurak/Morrigu, so something you may want to keep in mind. Turn rate of 14 on the New Orleans so puts it in line with the Morrigu, and head of the Kurak in pure passive stats. Interestingly you can also load dual cannons on the New Orleans. Shield modifier 1.32 and hull modifier of 0.99. Depending on what you use the Lt Cmdr Intel seat for, you may only end up with 2 engineering powers, vs the Morrigu which may end up with only 2 science depending on how you set it up.
The Trinary Arrays can be a nice boost to shield hardness and shield penetration on your ship and a nice debuff to foes when used right. 2 minute recharge but if played right could work well with a nice alpha strike.
Compared to Jem'hadar Strike ship, you'll get more crit chance and severity innately with the New Orleans, but you get greater flexibility of boff seating with the Strike ship. With the Strike Ship you get a Lt Cmdr Uni and Lt Uni/Command. Your Lt Cmdr Tac is also an intel seat. If you use a torp you could sneak a conc-fire in there where as on the New Orleans you couldn't. Can also get a Rally Point Marker or Overwhelm Emitters if you wanted more defensability.
You'll get more innate stats with the New Orleans compared to the other ships, but more flexibility with the Strike Ship. Big question would be what you want to do with the ships overall.
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I like the New Orleans a lot. Since it is able to use the high quality mateirals it looks nice and packs a punch while being still very nimble. The trinary arrays are a nice "death ray" to have - at least it looks awesome. It's the one ship I actually bought Zen for when it came out. My only Zen purchase since F2P, actually.
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Morrigu is a tac destroyer with secondary engineering focus, while these destroyers are sci secondary focus.
Kurak is a battlecruiser, engineering primary with tac secondary, but with superior 5/3 weapon layout.
Trinary arrays console I've found very poor except for maybe stationary boss ships and even then they don't feel like they last long or do enough. It gets interrupted easily and 2 min cooldown is too long for what it does. All other ship mentioned ship consoles IMO have more use even if for defensive purposes or set bonuses.
I've only piloted the vanguard recon destroyer so far, and only have it and the warbird. I've not battle tested it in elite patrols yet, though suspect my setup with offense-oriented CC science secondary role won't cut it, but in advanced TFOs found it fun, especially shuffling secondary subsystem power between aux for sci and engine to act like a slower turning escort to do strafing runs with cannons. So for me it fills the role of a slower sci escort for Jem'hadar since JHSS/JHRS are char-bound promo and the free T5 escort looks nothing as nice as those.
I have not flown the strike ship. I like the recon a LOT better than the Morrigu, and the morrigu is my favorite Rom ship to fly, so that is saying a lot. to me the Recon is a lot like the Titan. does it all, but is a jack of all trades, master of non. my recommendation? try her out on Tribble.
For beams? They're pretty solid. Most people expect 5 forward weapons on 'escorts' these days, which is (the only reason) why you don't see them that often.
Aside from their weapon layout, everything else about the ships is about as good as you could hope for in an attack ship playstyle. They can naturally fit Photonic Officer 2, so reaching quick cooldowns is fairly simple. Their turn rate is inline with most 'heavy escorts', so they're fairly comfortable with any kind of weapon configuration. The Universal seat gives you great flexibility to invest in more survivability or to augment more firepower; the healthy science consoles even let you double into science if you want to add utility to the ship. The Intel seat is also a great option for squeezing out more damage if you want.
I only have the New Orleans it packs a punch but is a little fragile so the punch packing is essential as she's not a ship for a protracted drawn out fight
A big question I would ask as well so we can give you better info that I didn't think about previously. What are your goals for the ship? Are you wanting just general recommendations and thoughts compared to the Kurak/Morrigu, or did you have a specific build type idea in mind?
"Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again." - Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek Generations
This pretty much sums it up. "The Recon Destroyer provides a middle ground between the toughness of a cruiser and the maneuverability and firepower of an escort."- STO Wiki
It surprised me when I first started using the New Orleans Recon Destroyer. More maneuverable then a cruiser while packing a punch.
A big question I would ask as well so we can give you better info that I didn't think about previously. What are your goals for the ship? Are you wanting just general recommendations and thoughts compared to the Kurak/Morrigu, or did you have a specific build type idea in mind?
I'm just gonna be doing my usual Aux2Bat+OSS beam build, first I hit either FaW3 or BO2 then OSS, A2B, and EptW. I know cannons would probably be better but I just don't like the look of them on most ships (especially fed ships). Probably an engineer in the universal slot with A2B1 and OSS3. I have a TNG themed Fed character that will definitely be using the New Orleans (I absolutely despise the look of the Avenger and it's variants), for my Romulan I really like the look of the Rahhae and can never seem to build a Morrigu kitbash I like (plus the assimilated shields look terrible on the Morrigu) but I'm not completely against sticking with the Morrigu on that toon either, on my Klingon I kinda prefer the look of the Mogh but I'll at least try it out, and on my Vorta I think I'll mostly be sticking with my JHDC but this will open up a vanguard ship for me to use on that toon if I want (I have the big Gamma pack, but I can't bring myself to play my Jem'Hadar long enough to get any of them to Tier 6 Mastery). So I guess what I'm most curious about is the comparison between the Morrigu and the Rahhae since that's the character I'm most undecided on.
I try to stick with builds that at least resemble what we would see in the shows, so most of the exotic stuff is out unless I'm on my one science character. That typically means finding a way to fit one forward torpedo as well, but for my fed character at least I'll probably just simulate that by using the quantum warhead module in one of the sci console slots.
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Comments
The Trinary Arrays can be a nice boost to shield hardness and shield penetration on your ship and a nice debuff to foes when used right. 2 minute recharge but if played right could work well with a nice alpha strike.
Compared to Jem'hadar Strike ship, you'll get more crit chance and severity innately with the New Orleans, but you get greater flexibility of boff seating with the Strike ship. With the Strike Ship you get a Lt Cmdr Uni and Lt Uni/Command. Your Lt Cmdr Tac is also an intel seat. If you use a torp you could sneak a conc-fire in there where as on the New Orleans you couldn't. Can also get a Rally Point Marker or Overwhelm Emitters if you wanted more defensability.
You'll get more innate stats with the New Orleans compared to the other ships, but more flexibility with the Strike Ship. Big question would be what you want to do with the ships overall.
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Kurak is a battlecruiser, engineering primary with tac secondary, but with superior 5/3 weapon layout.
Trinary arrays console I've found very poor except for maybe stationary boss ships and even then they don't feel like they last long or do enough. It gets interrupted easily and 2 min cooldown is too long for what it does. All other ship mentioned ship consoles IMO have more use even if for defensive purposes or set bonuses.
I've only piloted the vanguard recon destroyer so far, and only have it and the warbird. I've not battle tested it in elite patrols yet, though suspect my setup with offense-oriented CC science secondary role won't cut it, but in advanced TFOs found it fun, especially shuffling secondary subsystem power between aux for sci and engine to act like a slower turning escort to do strafing runs with cannons. So for me it fills the role of a slower sci escort for Jem'hadar since JHSS/JHRS are char-bound promo and the free T5 escort looks nothing as nice as those.
Aside from their weapon layout, everything else about the ships is about as good as you could hope for in an attack ship playstyle. They can naturally fit Photonic Officer 2, so reaching quick cooldowns is fairly simple. Their turn rate is inline with most 'heavy escorts', so they're fairly comfortable with any kind of weapon configuration. The Universal seat gives you great flexibility to invest in more survivability or to augment more firepower; the healthy science consoles even let you double into science if you want to add utility to the ship. The Intel seat is also a great option for squeezing out more damage if you want.
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It surprised me when I first started using the New Orleans Recon Destroyer. More maneuverable then a cruiser while packing a punch.
I'm just gonna be doing my usual Aux2Bat+OSS beam build, first I hit either FaW3 or BO2 then OSS, A2B, and EptW. I know cannons would probably be better but I just don't like the look of them on most ships (especially fed ships). Probably an engineer in the universal slot with A2B1 and OSS3. I have a TNG themed Fed character that will definitely be using the New Orleans (I absolutely despise the look of the Avenger and it's variants), for my Romulan I really like the look of the Rahhae and can never seem to build a Morrigu kitbash I like (plus the assimilated shields look terrible on the Morrigu) but I'm not completely against sticking with the Morrigu on that toon either, on my Klingon I kinda prefer the look of the Mogh but I'll at least try it out, and on my Vorta I think I'll mostly be sticking with my JHDC but this will open up a vanguard ship for me to use on that toon if I want (I have the big Gamma pack, but I can't bring myself to play my Jem'Hadar long enough to get any of them to Tier 6 Mastery). So I guess what I'm most curious about is the comparison between the Morrigu and the Rahhae since that's the character I'm most undecided on.
I try to stick with builds that at least resemble what we would see in the shows, so most of the exotic stuff is out unless I'm on my one science character. That typically means finding a way to fit one forward torpedo as well, but for my fed character at least I'll probably just simulate that by using the quantum warhead module in one of the sci console slots.
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