Aside from the more obvious deficiencies, three Tac is pointless because even in a single cannon build you can get the same powers with just the Lt. Com.
Indeed. My favourite cannon/turret only ship is actually ye olde space whale (star cruiser) because I just need to spam one single CRF using technicians every 21 seconds. Back up with EPTW/S and Aux2Batt chains lol.
The (Mirror) Assault's 3 tac slots give me the option of doing torpedo spreads along with the cannon spam, and now the Regent gives me APO on top of the other two.
Some evolution
STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.
Indeed. My favourite cannon/turret only ship is actually ye olde space whale (star cruiser) because I just need to spam one single CRF using technicians every 21 seconds. Back up with EPTW/S and Aux2Batt chains lol.
In short, it doesn't do what an Escort already does. And if you want a resilient escort with toys, you have the Armitage which mounts cannons, has a Commander Tactical, has better toys and has the much more useful Photon Torpedo mega spam ability.
I love my Regent though, but DPS is a valid concern in ESTF and competitive PvP and I am sticking to my RSV and Patrol Escort for those tasks.
STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.
Thanks for the screen shots. Anyone know what the (base) DPS is for the MKXII Borg Quantum Torpedoes? I'd like to see how different they are from one another.
398.5 DPS on the Borg Quantum Torps versus this one's 362.7... but at a targeting angle of 180 degrees it might be worth it, I'm not certain though, lol!
Cosmetic question. Does the Regent offer the skin Type from the Sovereign which offers the gold deflector dish? I recall how committed player's were to getting access to that choice and was hopeful it carries over for the Regent.
(/\) Exploring Star Trek Online Since July 2008 (/\)
Cosmetic question. Does the Regent offer the skin Type from the Sovereign which offers the gold deflector dish? I recall how committed player's were to getting access to that choice and was hopeful it carries over for the Regent.
I haven't seen any gold deflectors on the Regent, and I have access to material types 1-4, 6, and Veteran. The Sovereign Type 1 hull has a black-gold deflector, though.
I haven't seen any gold deflectors on the Regent, and I have access to material types 1-4, 6, and Veteran. The Sovereign Type 1 hull has a black-gold deflector, though.
Confirmed you can just use the Sovereign secondary hull.
Imperial hull plus Regent saucer and parts looks great too, actually.
STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.
Confirmed you can just use the Sovereign secondary hull.
Imperial hull plus Regent saucer and parts looks great too, actually.
As an aside, I like the new pylons. Has anyone noticed that they have little recessed drive outlets in them that glow red (or purple if you're running the jammie set)? They might not be so noticeable since they don't give off engine trails, but it's pretty sleek.
That said, the saucer seems a bit thin to me. I'll probably mix in some Sovereign parts to give 'er some bulk.
Though said this in the 'official' thread pertaining to the Regent, I will repeat here as it's just a relevant.
Am surprised at just how few Regent class ships I've seen since their release. When the Odyssey came out they were everywhere, and there were plentiful numbers of Armitage-class ships flying around when that was released. But haven't seen many Regents.
I noticed the same thing last night, expected to see them everywhere but still saw a lot of Oddys in most of the STFs when it came to cruisers. I think the main thing is if you look at it, you are basically looking at a ship that is incredibly similar to the Assault Cruiser that already exists in game. While it has a different BOFF layout, it's really not all that different or more effective. I honestly didn't notice that much difference from my Noble besides the extra tac power. You can still get better shields/hull with the Oddy just from having that extra console space(10 vs. 9) and while the 180 degree torpedo is awesome, the metreon gas console seems fairly "meh" to me just like the majority of the C-store consoles turn out to be.
Though said this in the 'official' thread pertaining to the Regent, I will repeat here as it's just a relevant.
Am surprised at just how few Regent class ships I've seen since their release. When the Odyssey came out they were everywhere, and there were plentiful numbers of Armitage-class ships flying around when that was released. But haven't seen many Regents.
Well, I see that as a fault on Starbases actually. I love the starbases, but most current IN GAME already ships should unlock fleet versions by Tier 3, Tier 4-5 should be unlocking fleet versions of YET TO BE released ships.
What I mean is, the Fleet Assault Cruiser we saw on tribble with 4 tac consoles is whats gonna elevate this ship. But that's prob 7 months away?
Plus, IMO I tried to buy the Imperial skin obviously the day AFTER they removed it from the store. Which means if I bought this Zen store version I'd still have to wait 7 months to make it look the way I want? lol
Sorry, Love starbases, but use something thats 6-7 months away for NEW content, not hold back on ship design. Cryptic are hurting themselves that way.
Am surprised at just how few Regent class ships I've seen since their release. When the Odyssey came out they were everywhere, and there were plentiful numbers of Armitage-class ships flying around when that was released. But haven't seen many Regents.
I think that most people who aren't Sovereign fanboys see it as a $25 torpedo launcher that comes with a ship.
That and the Regent's 3D model is a bit meh. Park it beside an Odyssey and you see what I mean.
The Oddy is full of extremely good detail and bump-mapping that looks great even when zoomed in mere meters to the hull (hint - see my demorecord videos). The Regent? Looks like a model from a game produced more than a decade ago.
STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.
I'm no cruiser savant, but here's what I thought of when I saw the post:
LtC Tac: Tactical Team I, Torp Spread II (or Attack Pattern Beta I or Fire At Will II), Fire At Will III (could be APB II or Torp Spread III)
En Tac: Tactical Team I (or a Torp Ability or FAW/Beam Overload)
Lt Uni (Tac): Tac Team (or a Torp/Beam ability depending on whether or not you use your En Tac for Tactical Team), Torp or Beam ability or Attack Pattern Beta
Com Eng: EPTS I, RSP I or Aux2SIF, EPTS III, Extend Shields (dropping Eject Warp Plasma in favor of the Metreon Console)
Lt En: EP to Weapons, Aux2SIF or Eng Team/DEM (or vice versa)
Consoles:
Tac: Damage for beams or torps depending on your power setup
Sci: Field Generators/Emitters
En: Armor consoles + Borg console and Metreon Console
Three Tac Teams? One will always be down and wasted. Add an Eng Team to that, and two of your teams will always be down. Likewise more than two EP2x skills.
__________________________________
STO Forum member since before February 2010. STO Academy's excellent skill planner here: Link I actually avoid success entirely. It doesn't get me what I want, and the consequences for failure are slim. -- markhawman
That and the Regent's 3D model is a bit meh. Park it beside an Odyssey and you see what I mean.
The Oddy is full of extremely good detail and bump-mapping that looks great even when zoomed in mere meters to the hull (hint - see my demorecord videos). The Regent? Looks like a model from a game produced more than a decade ago.
I agree. I might end up switching back to classic sovvy, tbh. Also, Why can't I use the oddy bridge? In fact, why aren't these new ships coming out with new bridges attached? I think every zen store ship at this point should have a custom new bridge attached.
Does anyone else find it mildly disturbing that the Doff system has basically introduced slavery into both the Federation and the KDF (assuming the KDF didn't already have it -Orions and all)?
Here we are, all talking casually about buying and selling people in an auction house, trading them from owner to owner and crowing when we get a particularly good specimen with unique skills.
Sure they're not real people or anything, but given some far-off plans for STO to start representing Doffs on your ship interior and such, they may someday have more "humanity" than we're comfortable with...
Actually I find it freaking hilarious.
This is one of those things that you can either avoid entirely (don't buy DOffs off the Exchange), mentally cover up (energy credits being used for transfers - DOffs being especially valuable officers and captains throwing their weight around to get the best officers for their crew), or just laugh about it, ignore it, and pretend that the "purchased" DOff wandered off the shuttlecraft with your latest batch of Console Explosion Buffers (colloquially known as "redshirts").
I agree. I might end up switching back to classic sovvy, tbh. Also, Why can't I use the oddy bridge? In fact, why aren't these new ships coming out with new bridges attached? I think every zen store ship at this point should have a custom new bridge attached.
Yeah I think that is total BS, I use 2500 Zen to get the ship and then if I want the bridge that goes with it than it's another 400 Zen. Honestly some of the prices for the expansion bridges are a little ridiculous. If you pay $25-30 for a ship you ought to at least get a nice bridge with it.
Though said this in the 'official' thread pertaining to the Regent, I will repeat here as it's just a relevant.
Am surprised at just how few Regent class ships I've seen since their release. When the Odyssey came out they were everywhere, and there were plentiful numbers of Armitage-class ships flying around when that was released. But haven't seen many Regents.
I am more dismayed than surprised.
The Regent is a good, solid ship. It is what it is and does its job well, much like its more balanced free counterpart. But the simple fact of the matter is that she is only a marginal upgrade from the Assault Cruiser. No buff to hull, no increase in turn rate, no shield multiplier, no extra console slots (although at least the qtorp is awesome, admittedly, though I don't know how to feel about the Metreon Gas yet).
Furthermore, there is also the Fleet Assault Cruiser we were (possibly inadvertantly) teased with. The thing was plain and simple a killing machine. It got a buff to just about everything except turn rate. Since this one is arguably a slightly better tank, boosts to shields and hull aside, this may actually make it more popular. However, the Fleet AC is not what this one is. It does not help the fact that chances are high that the Fleet AC will be coming out around the time tier-5 starbases start popping up (or perhaps in conjunction with whatever holdings are supposed to be coming with seasons 7-9).
There is a slight feel, at least to me, as though the Regent is half an upgrade - and an expensive one at that. If one were to go to an extreme they might even consider it a very expensive teaser for the fleet Assault Cruiser, which will cost at least $5 a pop for those who bought the Regent. I am dismayed because I love my Assault Cruisers, and I'm not sorry I made the purchase, but at the same time I am both disappointed and satisfied, and can understand why people would not want this ship as-is.
It is also possible that they were banking on the Sovereign popularity to essentially sell an inferior ship. While I do not feel that the Regent is inferior per se, I do think that it's very well outshone by the Fleet AC. Sovereign fanboys (e.g. me) would buy the C-Store AC in droves, and then (or so it is hoped) line up right afterwards to buy the fleet version. This would probably not be me as I would honestly like to avoid the entire "fleet ship" business. Cynically I could also speculate that a few months to a year from now they'd have another cruiser (Ambassador? Given the Excel-R outguns the Sovvy, hardly beyond thought) lined up to be a "real" upgrade to the Assault Cruiser available from the C-Store, continuing to sell the Regent on popularity. So essentially stretch out the upgrade on this ship to span across the income of two ships, possibly three. If this was their intention, I think they made a rather big miscalculation.
I hope Cryptic will consider giving it some slight buffs (it doesn't need to be huge, but throwing a few bones our way would likely do wonders), though they may have missed their opportunity to make a big splash with the ship. This is clearly not as big a seller as either the Odyssey or Armitage.
Truth be told I kind of wonder how Regent and Armitage sales stacked up against one another. Aside from the Armitage being unique and a pretty solid upgrade, we also didn't really have the whole "fleet ship" thing down yet, and I don't think there was all that much knowledge about the implications thereof (e.g. inferior stats and no tenth console for the C-Store version). As I can't recall the timeline too well, if we did know about it the knowledge was brand new, so it probably wasn't all THAT widespread yet, and besides, escort-carrier is enough to get most people's attention on it's own. However, now, that is common knowledge to anyone who is involved with actual game interaction, as is the Fleet AC - and its abrupt absence.
What stopped me getting the then c-store Oddys was the problem of balancing offense and defense. The Regent is thankfully capable of being both survivable and hard hitting, or else using the old WW1 battlecruiser doctrine of "outrun what you can't outgun".
You would be surprised how effectively the Odyssey can be configured along these lines - at least, if you buy the full pack, and are willing to be a bit selfish.
I run on my Ody a chain of EPtW1 x 2, EPtS2, EPtS3, and Aux2SIF3. This is a pretty effective perpetual chain of regeneration and power, I have found, at least when used in concert with tactical team. This takes up the engineer slots.
Combine that with a tac in the Lt. Cmdr universal slot, and you can get some decent firepower out of it. These ought to go on the Tactical or Science Odyssey (trying to figure out which is the better tactical cruiser in another thread, actually). Use saucer separation and you become one lean and mean destroyer.
I run a similar setup on my Regent, and it works well there, too, although once I get around to reconfiguring my BOffs some I will probably be giving one of the Lt. Engineering BOff power slots something that can be more readily used on both myself and a teammate - as-is on both my Regent and Ody, the only repair abilities I have to use on others is a shot of Aux2SIF3 (if I break my chain) and HE2, with Work Bees on the Ody.
In a lot of ways the Regent is like a slightly tankier (but lower-statted), somewhat slower version of the Odyssey in permanent saucer separation mode, really, if it were configured with a tactical bent.
Well that gas looks fun and so does the torp, but I'm still not sold. They messed up by putting the Fleet Assault cruiser on tribble awhile back, since I'm pretty sure it will be out eventually I think its better just to hold out for it. Those 2 weapons aren't enough to make up for the one less tac console the Regent has compared to the Fleet AC. I guess buying the Regent should make the Fleet AC cost only 1 module though, so maybe worth it if u plan on getting both.
really, it should have probably been a refit of the excelsior retrofit (say that five times fast). The current BO setup with the extra maneuverability would have been great. That I think its the ships main problem. It could have used one or two points to maneuverability and maybe a bit of shield mod.
That being said I do think the ship is pretty nice looking, maybe not Odyssey pretty, but is nice in a more rugged TOS/Motion picture way.
"..and like children playing after sunset, we were surrounded by darkness." -Ruri Hoshino
The regents problem is it doesnt really offer anything new. It desperately needed to have at least Excelsior turn rate or better and they gave it the old 7, When a turnrate of 9 would have made for a cruiser you could play differently.
As I said in previous threads, The Sovereign refit (Regent) is a solid ship. I've been flying the classic Sovereign since the very beginning, constantly tweaking it, perfecting it. It is a great ship. This new, more tactical version is very fun to fly. I find that you can hit harder and still tank (although not as well as the classic version, but good enough).
I guess what people are having problem with it is the value they are get for the cost and also expectations. I believe this is the one of the first C-store release of a highly anticipated tier 5 ships. The Armitage was well received because it was a tier 5 release of a tier 3 ship, where the difference is significant. Also the Atrox was an entire new ship and ship class. The problem with the Sovereign refit is that it is a release of a ship that is already in tier 5, so the difference is not as significant. As a result people don't see as much bang for the buck. I think the devs in a way recognized this so they tried to make the ship more enticing by making the Wide-angle Quantum Torpedo Launcher useable on any ship.
Therein lies the problem. How can you release a new refit of a ship that is already tier 5? What can you offer in terms of value without making other ships totally obsolete? Certainly in terms of boff layout, they would be limited as they don't want to make other cruisers totally obsolete. (Personally I think they did an awesome job of making it the most tactical without making other tactical cruisers obsolete) The easiest way to add value is through special consoles/abilities.
While the wide-angle Quantum Torpedo Launcher is excellent and very valuable for slow moving cruisers, it is not so valuble for people with fast turning ships as the damage is subpar to the higher end Mark XII Quantum launchers. Perhaps this needs to be buffed to add more value.
The Metron gas cannister console is pretty sweet, and visually nice...not sure if it is good enough to be of value. Of course, I'm still trying it out and have not yet explored its potential. So far, its fun with nice effects, I'm not totally sold on it.
Regardless, I still bought it and I'm really enjoying it.
I've actually enjoyed the Regent so far, though I did not like the original look so it's now a version of the Noble/Regent/Sovy in terms of parts. I pulled the Metreon Console, just didn't find it useful at all, especially when to me it just doesn't seem as good as EWP or the Ferengi event theta console. I stuck another armor in place of it in Engineering slot and it tanks just as well as my Excelsior now. With the right BOFF powers this ship can be a beast.
One thing I was thinking about though, they ought to rethink the torpedo launcher thing. While it's a great launcher, if they wanted to stick with the re-fit idea they should have made it more like the Sovy in Nemesis, with a 360 degree phaser array or two. Maybe two on the saucer, just like in Nemesis when Picard orders the phasers fired all around the ship from the saucer, that was pretty damn cool and to me would make the ship worth $25.
Just thinking you get one phaser array, sort of like the one torpedo launcher. Maybe you can only equip it fore and it works like a turret for firing range. Or maybe it could be a console like the defense turret you got at pre-order way back when. Not every one uses FAW so could be an interesting thing. I just thought of the idea while watching the battle scenes in Nemesis the other night and when Picard says to start firing the phasers randomly and shoot torps when they get hits and the saucer starts firing fore and aft, just sort of had the random thought.
The problem is how to make it different enough from the Point Defence console to make it a worthy separate addon. That and we already have two PDS consoles, one gun and one torpedo.
STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.
The problem is how to make it different enough from the Point Defence console to make it a worthy separate addon. That and we already have two PDS consoles, one gun and one torpedo.
It'd probably have to be a weapon. Think of it like:
Phaser Beam Array [Acc] [CritH] [360]
where the [360] gives it the firing arc of a Turret. Just, y'know, it's a beam and you can only have one on your ship.
Comments
Indeed. My favourite cannon/turret only ship is actually ye olde space whale (star cruiser) because I just need to spam one single CRF using technicians every 21 seconds. Back up with EPTW/S and Aux2Batt chains lol.
The (Mirror) Assault's 3 tac slots give me the option of doing torpedo spreads along with the cannon spam, and now the Regent gives me APO on top of the other two.
Some evolution
My Youtube Channel
Bingo!
/10char
vids and guides and stuff
[9:52] [Zone #11] Neal@trapper1532: im a omega force shadow oprative and a maoc elite camander and here i am taking water samples
Before we end up in Ambitious But Rubbish (tm) territory here are the cons of the Regent Class in all summarized glory:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=5320321&postcount=8
In short, it doesn't do what an Escort already does. And if you want a resilient escort with toys, you have the Armitage which mounts cannons, has a Commander Tactical, has better toys and has the much more useful Photon Torpedo mega spam ability.
I love my Regent though, but DPS is a valid concern in ESTF and competitive PvP and I am sticking to my RSV and Patrol Escort for those tasks.
My Youtube Channel
398.5 DPS on the Borg Quantum Torps versus this one's 362.7... but at a targeting angle of 180 degrees it might be worth it, I'm not certain though, lol!
I haven't seen any gold deflectors on the Regent, and I have access to material types 1-4, 6, and Veteran. The Sovereign Type 1 hull has a black-gold deflector, though.
Confirmed you can just use the Sovereign secondary hull.
Imperial hull plus Regent saucer and parts looks great too, actually.
My Youtube Channel
As an aside, I like the new pylons. Has anyone noticed that they have little recessed drive outlets in them that glow red (or purple if you're running the jammie set)? They might not be so noticeable since they don't give off engine trails, but it's pretty sleek.
That said, the saucer seems a bit thin to me. I'll probably mix in some Sovereign parts to give 'er some bulk.
I noticed the same thing last night, expected to see them everywhere but still saw a lot of Oddys in most of the STFs when it came to cruisers. I think the main thing is if you look at it, you are basically looking at a ship that is incredibly similar to the Assault Cruiser that already exists in game. While it has a different BOFF layout, it's really not all that different or more effective. I honestly didn't notice that much difference from my Noble besides the extra tac power. You can still get better shields/hull with the Oddy just from having that extra console space(10 vs. 9) and while the 180 degree torpedo is awesome, the metreon gas console seems fairly "meh" to me just like the majority of the C-store consoles turn out to be.
Well, I see that as a fault on Starbases actually. I love the starbases, but most current IN GAME already ships should unlock fleet versions by Tier 3, Tier 4-5 should be unlocking fleet versions of YET TO BE released ships.
What I mean is, the Fleet Assault Cruiser we saw on tribble with 4 tac consoles is whats gonna elevate this ship. But that's prob 7 months away?
Plus, IMO I tried to buy the Imperial skin obviously the day AFTER they removed it from the store. Which means if I bought this Zen store version I'd still have to wait 7 months to make it look the way I want? lol
Sorry, Love starbases, but use something thats 6-7 months away for NEW content, not hold back on ship design. Cryptic are hurting themselves that way.
The Oddy is full of extremely good detail and bump-mapping that looks great even when zoomed in mere meters to the hull (hint - see my demorecord videos). The Regent? Looks like a model from a game produced more than a decade ago.
My Youtube Channel
Three Tac Teams? One will always be down and wasted. Add an Eng Team to that, and two of your teams will always be down. Likewise more than two EP2x skills.
STO Forum member since before February 2010.
STO Academy's excellent skill planner here: Link
I actually avoid success entirely. It doesn't get me what I want, and the consequences for failure are slim. -- markhawman
I agree. I might end up switching back to classic sovvy, tbh. Also, Why can't I use the oddy bridge? In fact, why aren't these new ships coming out with new bridges attached? I think every zen store ship at this point should have a custom new bridge attached.
- Demosthenes01101, from the REAL Star Trek Online forums!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"You have been, and always shall be, my friend."
- Pointy-eared, green blooded, hobgoblin
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes
Actually I find it freaking hilarious.
This is one of those things that you can either avoid entirely (don't buy DOffs off the Exchange), mentally cover up (energy credits being used for transfers - DOffs being especially valuable officers and captains throwing their weight around to get the best officers for their crew), or just laugh about it, ignore it, and pretend that the "purchased" DOff wandered off the shuttlecraft with your latest batch of Console Explosion Buffers (colloquially known as "redshirts").
Yeah I think that is total BS, I use 2500 Zen to get the ship and then if I want the bridge that goes with it than it's another 400 Zen. Honestly some of the prices for the expansion bridges are a little ridiculous. If you pay $25-30 for a ship you ought to at least get a nice bridge with it.
I am more dismayed than surprised.
The Regent is a good, solid ship. It is what it is and does its job well, much like its more balanced free counterpart. But the simple fact of the matter is that she is only a marginal upgrade from the Assault Cruiser. No buff to hull, no increase in turn rate, no shield multiplier, no extra console slots (although at least the qtorp is awesome, admittedly, though I don't know how to feel about the Metreon Gas yet).
Furthermore, there is also the Fleet Assault Cruiser we were (possibly inadvertantly) teased with. The thing was plain and simple a killing machine. It got a buff to just about everything except turn rate. Since this one is arguably a slightly better tank, boosts to shields and hull aside, this may actually make it more popular. However, the Fleet AC is not what this one is. It does not help the fact that chances are high that the Fleet AC will be coming out around the time tier-5 starbases start popping up (or perhaps in conjunction with whatever holdings are supposed to be coming with seasons 7-9).
There is a slight feel, at least to me, as though the Regent is half an upgrade - and an expensive one at that. If one were to go to an extreme they might even consider it a very expensive teaser for the fleet Assault Cruiser, which will cost at least $5 a pop for those who bought the Regent. I am dismayed because I love my Assault Cruisers, and I'm not sorry I made the purchase, but at the same time I am both disappointed and satisfied, and can understand why people would not want this ship as-is.
It is also possible that they were banking on the Sovereign popularity to essentially sell an inferior ship. While I do not feel that the Regent is inferior per se, I do think that it's very well outshone by the Fleet AC. Sovereign fanboys (e.g. me) would buy the C-Store AC in droves, and then (or so it is hoped) line up right afterwards to buy the fleet version. This would probably not be me as I would honestly like to avoid the entire "fleet ship" business. Cynically I could also speculate that a few months to a year from now they'd have another cruiser (Ambassador? Given the Excel-R outguns the Sovvy, hardly beyond thought) lined up to be a "real" upgrade to the Assault Cruiser available from the C-Store, continuing to sell the Regent on popularity. So essentially stretch out the upgrade on this ship to span across the income of two ships, possibly three. If this was their intention, I think they made a rather big miscalculation.
I hope Cryptic will consider giving it some slight buffs (it doesn't need to be huge, but throwing a few bones our way would likely do wonders), though they may have missed their opportunity to make a big splash with the ship. This is clearly not as big a seller as either the Odyssey or Armitage.
Truth be told I kind of wonder how Regent and Armitage sales stacked up against one another. Aside from the Armitage being unique and a pretty solid upgrade, we also didn't really have the whole "fleet ship" thing down yet, and I don't think there was all that much knowledge about the implications thereof (e.g. inferior stats and no tenth console for the C-Store version). As I can't recall the timeline too well, if we did know about it the knowledge was brand new, so it probably wasn't all THAT widespread yet, and besides, escort-carrier is enough to get most people's attention on it's own. However, now, that is common knowledge to anyone who is involved with actual game interaction, as is the Fleet AC - and its abrupt absence.
You would be surprised how effectively the Odyssey can be configured along these lines - at least, if you buy the full pack, and are willing to be a bit selfish.
I run on my Ody a chain of EPtW1 x 2, EPtS2, EPtS3, and Aux2SIF3. This is a pretty effective perpetual chain of regeneration and power, I have found, at least when used in concert with tactical team. This takes up the engineer slots.
Combine that with a tac in the Lt. Cmdr universal slot, and you can get some decent firepower out of it. These ought to go on the Tactical or Science Odyssey (trying to figure out which is the better tactical cruiser in another thread, actually). Use saucer separation and you become one lean and mean destroyer.
I run a similar setup on my Regent, and it works well there, too, although once I get around to reconfiguring my BOffs some I will probably be giving one of the Lt. Engineering BOff power slots something that can be more readily used on both myself and a teammate - as-is on both my Regent and Ody, the only repair abilities I have to use on others is a shot of Aux2SIF3 (if I break my chain) and HE2, with Work Bees on the Ody.
In a lot of ways the Regent is like a slightly tankier (but lower-statted), somewhat slower version of the Odyssey in permanent saucer separation mode, really, if it were configured with a tactical bent.
Wide Angle Quantum Torpedo Launcher
STF Mark XI Quantum Torpedo [Borg]
STF Mark XII Quantum Torpedo [Borg]
Taken "on land" so it's not affected by Captain's skills. These I believe are the base DPS values.
Link
My Youtube Channel
That being said I do think the ship is pretty nice looking, maybe not Odyssey pretty, but is nice in a more rugged TOS/Motion picture way.
I guess what people are having problem with it is the value they are get for the cost and also expectations. I believe this is the one of the first C-store release of a highly anticipated tier 5 ships. The Armitage was well received because it was a tier 5 release of a tier 3 ship, where the difference is significant. Also the Atrox was an entire new ship and ship class. The problem with the Sovereign refit is that it is a release of a ship that is already in tier 5, so the difference is not as significant. As a result people don't see as much bang for the buck. I think the devs in a way recognized this so they tried to make the ship more enticing by making the Wide-angle Quantum Torpedo Launcher useable on any ship.
Therein lies the problem. How can you release a new refit of a ship that is already tier 5? What can you offer in terms of value without making other ships totally obsolete? Certainly in terms of boff layout, they would be limited as they don't want to make other cruisers totally obsolete. (Personally I think they did an awesome job of making it the most tactical without making other tactical cruisers obsolete) The easiest way to add value is through special consoles/abilities.
While the wide-angle Quantum Torpedo Launcher is excellent and very valuable for slow moving cruisers, it is not so valuble for people with fast turning ships as the damage is subpar to the higher end Mark XII Quantum launchers. Perhaps this needs to be buffed to add more value.
The Metron gas cannister console is pretty sweet, and visually nice...not sure if it is good enough to be of value. Of course, I'm still trying it out and have not yet explored its potential. So far, its fun with nice effects, I'm not totally sold on it.
Regardless, I still bought it and I'm really enjoying it.
But after seeing the states, I am going to buy it! Is still worst than the Excelsior!
Well done Cryptic, I know for a fact that in our small fleet you loss at least 10 sells of this ship! Improve it and maybe you will gain them.
Division Hispana
www.divisionhispana.com
One thing I was thinking about though, they ought to rethink the torpedo launcher thing. While it's a great launcher, if they wanted to stick with the re-fit idea they should have made it more like the Sovy in Nemesis, with a 360 degree phaser array or two. Maybe two on the saucer, just like in Nemesis when Picard orders the phasers fired all around the ship from the saucer, that was pretty damn cool and to me would make the ship worth $25.
How would you design the functionality of the 'auxiliary phaser array'? The game pretty much already has this working very well - FAW.
My Youtube Channel
My Youtube Channel
It'd probably have to be a weapon. Think of it like:
Phaser Beam Array [Acc] [CritH] [360]
where the [360] gives it the firing arc of a Turret. Just, y'know, it's a beam and you can only have one on your ship.