MVAE, HEC or TER - Which escort to buy?

Comments

• stofsk Member Posts: 1,744 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  I fly the Defiant, and I love it. I did swap out the cloak for another console though, as it really should be a battlecloak if it's going to take up a console slot IMO. But it doesn't strictly speaking need a cloak, and it's more useful for PVP which as you don't do that, makes its utility dubious. Another factor for consideration is the fleet Defiant has 5 tactical consoles, and you should have it available now if your fleet is a week away from T4.
  
  But, my honest advice - I love the Defiant, I have always loved its looks and that's more than half the reason I fly it. I even use the quad phasers purely for lore/RP reasons. On the other hand I don't particularly like the Prometheus (thing looks like a flying garden trowel lol). But if you already fly that ship, and you love the aesthetics, why not simply upgrade to the C-store version and get the fleet module discount for when your fleet hits T4 next week? Because honestly once you get to the endgame ships, many of which are viable, it really comes down to taste.

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• whiskyfueled Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  centurion47 wrote: »

  I am about to buy my first ZEN ship - an Escort.
  I'm a Tactical captain. My flying style is, i guess a mix of a damage and tanking escort, - full cannon build, fly in close, shooting and kicking, without any regard for my ships "well-being" - only using my healing abilities to stay alive, retreating only when I actually caught on that I'm about to die (I usually don't... and simply blow up... )

  
  Howdy,
  
  based on the description of your flying style I'd say go with the HEC. Back when i decided on my first Zen ship i might have written the same description of mine and i wound up getting th HEC and never regretting it one bit.
  
  It certainly is the tankiest one of the 3, the LTC eng gives you enough room to slot Aux2SIF 2 for a nice instant heal besides 2 Emergency powers. Or even allows for more exotic builds like Aux2Bat ...
  
  The tactical seating is still enough to have 2 copies of your cannon skill, Attack Patterns Beta and Omega (for damage and tractor defense), the obligatory Tactical Team as well as up to 2 Torp Skills / Beam Overloads. (and of course the possibility of seating up to 3 romulan tac boffs for up fo 6% CritH)
  
  The Torp defense is nice as well, comparable to something like a 360? Photon Torp Spread V you can use without even mounting a torp. Has helped me save the optional on a number of Infected runs when timed right, but by now i have replaced it with Rep / Embassy consoles on most chars. Still i don't think it's less useful than any of the other 2.
  
  On top of all that you get the hangar with the ability to launch up to 6 fighters to aid in your attack. Great motivator to grind your Romulan rep to T5 for the Elite Scorpion Fighters (yes, they are worth it ).
  
  
  While i have not gotten the chance to fly the other 2 yet I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with the HEC: able to dish out heaps of damage and survive.
  
  
  Cheers!

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• centurion47 Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  Thanks a lot guys!
  You have been very helpful!
  
  You actually helped me "zero-in" on my initial choice - the MVAE, but will defiantly get all 3 eventually.
  
  Thanks!
  

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• platewearingbird Member Posts: 455 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  I use the MVAE and a Mirror Fleet Escort.
  
  My escort lacks a hold, but can break tractor beams and have a bit more defense, my MVAE can gravity well.
  
  I like em both, I trade the gear back and forth depending on mood.

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• mosquito214 Member Posts: 138 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  As an MVAE user, just note that the MVA mode is... tricky. For one thing, you do get to choose which of the three parts you fly, all of which have different bonuses, but the one you pick has a probably-too-long ten-minute recharge, while the parts you didn't fly have four-minute ones, that only start cool-down after you recombine. They also make you more fragile (but easily Defiant-fast, agility-wise), and the other two parts especially are susceptible to being caught in ship explosions.
  
  However, having Gravity Well on an escort is pretty fun. I've had it a while though, and I'm similarly trying to decide between a new shiny Armitage or Defiant.

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• twam Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  I'm considering the MVAE too, and if thinking of using the MV-mode console, bear in mind that you can use it not only on the (Fleet) Advanced Escort, but also on the Mirror Universe Patrol Escort. That would allow you to multivector your ltc tac, I believe, and on the cheap, too. You basically get a lot of options in addition to the c-store version.
  
  I don't know, though, I'm still on the fence, choosing between MVAE and Defiant.

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• dknight0001 Member Posts: 1,542

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  The biggest problem with the MVAE is the pets should act like a pair of Carrier BoPs, they need Carrier commands and the first warp core breach will probably kill them.
  
  I love the BOFF layout for the MVAE, it works great as an Escort with PVE Crowd Control. It can also load a Viral Matrix and I believe there's a DOFF who makes it an AOE.
  
  But of the three I'd take the HEC, it's robust, it's got a great console and it can launch fighters. It can also drop Warp Plasma in an Escort.
  
  Combine that with the power creep of this game and the newer ships are always more powerful than the older ones.

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• fenr00k Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  If you want something tanky that still puts out the DPS, get the HEC.
  
  If you want something with good DPS that also has some crowd control (perfect for doing probes in STFs) get the MVAE.
  
  If you want something paper thin that does good DPS, get the Kumari (I have a fleet defiant, my Kumari does more DPS though, but is just as squishy.)
  
  OR think outside the box complete. Escorts don't rule the DPS race anymore, regardless of what you are told, especially now feds can get plasmonic leech consoles. The king of DPS is very likely the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier but that's lock box and costs about 70 million EC on the exchange. You can do pretty good DPS though, with a ton more tank, in a tac oddysey or a fleet Excelsior.... It's too easy for tacs to get hung up on the idea that they must fly escorts with all the folks claiming crusiers can't compete, but in my fleet we've learned that cruisers can indeed compete, it just costs more to set them up to be optimal.
  
  Oh and yes, I mainly use my 2 tacs (LB Romulan and a human, both feds), and I mainly fly cruisers and dreadnoughts. There are folks in my fleet happily doing 15k dps in dreadnoughts without too much effort. You don't need crowd control on them as the crowd is dead before it becomes a problem.
  
  Cue folks flaming me for suggesting that escorts aren't the ultimate ships for tacs...
  
  Ven

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• rhinzual Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  May 2013 edited May 2013

  fenr00k wrote: »

  If you want something tanky that still puts out the DPS, get the HEC.
  
  If you want something with good DPS that also has some crowd control (perfect for doing probes in STFs) get the MVAE.
  
  If you want something paper thin that does good DPS, get the Kumari (I have a fleet defiant, my Kumari does more DPS though, but is just as squishy.)
  
  OR think outside the box complete. Escorts don't rule the DPS race anymore, regardless of what you are told, especially now feds can get plasmonic leech consoles. The king of DPS is very likely the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier but that's lock box and costs about 70 million EC on the exchange. You can do pretty good DPS though, with a ton more tank, in a tac oddysey or a fleet Excelsior.... It's too easy for tacs to get hung up on the idea that they must fly escorts with all the folks claiming crusiers can't compete, but in my fleet we've learned that cruisers can indeed compete, it just costs more to set them up to be optimal.
  
  Oh and yes, I mainly use my 2 tacs (LB Romulan and a human, both feds), and I mainly fly cruisers and dreadnoughts. There are folks in my fleet happily doing 15k dps in dreadnoughts without too much effort. You don't need crowd control on them as the crowd is dead before it becomes a problem.
  
  Cue folks flaming me for suggesting that escorts aren't the ultimate ships for tacs...
  
  Ven

  They probably advocate the use of Escorts to best utilize DHCs/1xTorp/Turrets because then you only need the cannon and torp BOFF skills to get the most damage.

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• alfamega Member Posts: 268 Arc User

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  HEC is above all !!!
  
  reason: the pets make quite the difference. tacklers, flankers, shield buffer, all at your disposal, depends on the situation. and they intercept plasma torps.
  and the torp console makes lot of fun, especially on mirror event.
  just calculate the raw damage numbers involving the skills and 2 photon consoles. its just plain huge chunk of numbers.
  imo the best ship a fed can get (aside of box ships).
  
  MVAE is just "meh". 2 dumb pets, doing nothing special nor useful.
  
  TER aside of being famous on TV really nothing special. can be good in pvp to deliver a surprise and feel yourself being like a klingon.

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• risingstar2009 Member Posts: 329 Arc User

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  I haven't flown the MVAE mainly because I don't like the looks nor the multi-vector mode with the current setup for Pet AI's, so I can't give an opinion about it.
  
  However, the other two, I do own and fly. (Like you, I am waiting for my Fleet to get a T5 shipyard from the Fleet HEC.) They both have their strong and weak points.
  
  The TER (read: Defiant) is a decent ship despite having the lower HP. The spike DPS from using the cloak in an Alpha Strike manner is usually good enough to drop the shield facing, allowing your weapons to beat on the hull much quicker. And it is a Universal console for the TER and Galaxy-X.
  
  The HEC is a bigger ship and able to soak up a bit more damage. And the fighters can be a major advantage, especially the Elite Scorpions as their AI seems to be a bit better than the rest (they usually try to avoid the Core breaches and Singularity implosions). Only down side to this ship is that once you fire off the TPDS, you WILL Insta-Aggro everything you hit. At least that has been my experience with it.
  
  But, the decision will eventually be your as you'll need to decide which of the three more suits your playing style.

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• scbypwr Member Posts: 177 Arc User

  June 2013 edited June 2013

  fenr00k wrote: »

  OR think outside the box complete. Escorts don't rule the DPS race anymore, regardless of what you are told, especially now feds can get plasmonic leech consoles. The king of DPS is very likely the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier but that's lock box and costs about 70 million EC on the exchange. You can do pretty good DPS though, with a ton more tank, in a tac oddysey or a fleet Excelsior.... It's too easy for tacs to get hung up on the idea that they must fly escorts with all the folks claiming crusiers can't compete, but in my fleet we've learned that cruisers can indeed compete, it just costs more to set them up to be optimal.
  
  Oh and yes, I mainly use my 2 tacs (LB Romulan and a human, both feds), and I mainly fly cruisers and dreadnoughts. There are folks in my fleet happily doing 15k dps in dreadnoughts without too much effort. You don't need crowd control on them as the crowd is dead before it becomes a problem.
  
  Cue folks flaming me for suggesting that escorts aren't the ultimate ships for tacs...
  
  Ven

  
  
  
  Shhh...your giving away the secret. They will nerf the dreadnought before to long...LOL!
  
  I love the dread with 7 beams a blazing and frigates flying around spamming anti-proton sweeps...lol

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