http://sto.gamepedia.com/Fleet_Advanced_Heavy_Cruiser_Retrofithttp://sto.gamepedia.com/Fleet_Assault_Cruiser
These ships are very similar, and I'm looking to buy one for my Engineer. Any suggestions why one is better than the other? I'm currently running a Romulan Beam Array loadout.
Forget the possibility of PvP, for so much has become pay-to-win, never to be balanced. Forget the promise of exploration and research, for in the grim dark future of Star Trek Online there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting publishers.
Comments
The FAHCR Excelsior is more nimble and its boff seating is a bit better suited to heals compared to the FACR.
The Fleet Sovereign on the other hand comes with a more flexible Boff seating and if setup correctly can dish out a little bit more dps than the FAHCR.
The difference is very slight though and it comes at a price wich is the almost total loss team healing abilities.
I do own both and at the moment i use the FACR with a Sovereign skin. But i swap back and forth with the Excelsior on the FAHCR.
Its realy not such big a difference. If i have to have the last little bit of dps in a fed cruiser i go for the Sovereign.
But in al honesty the FAHCR is just a bit more fun. Especialy if you do like to travel alot for doff misisons or mission replays or foundry stuff. That advanced transwarpdrive is endlessly usefull.
Maybe the look of the ships makes a difference for you.
Since your character is an engineer i might suggest the FACR . Your captains abilities might offset some of the treade offs you have to take in order to make it a heavy hitter.
If you are planning to do a lot of PVE content (STFs, etc.), the Sovereign would be your best bet.
If you are planning to do a lot of PVP, avoid both of these ships if you plan on flying in Arena or Cap and Hold. Get a ship with more team heals.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
The powerful cooldown reduction that comes with Aux2Bat practically gives me two copies of every bridge officer ability. This makes the already obsolete ensign engineering slot twice obsolete.
The Fleet Assault ditches the ensign engeering in favor of a ensign tactical. If you run Aux2Bat like me, a second copy of TacTeam I would be as obsolete as the ensign engineering. You could slot a subsystem target ability or a beam overload though. If you don't intend to run an Aux2Bat build, forget what I just wrote. On the other hand both ships wouldn't be as much fun without Aux2Bat.
If I had the ability to choose, I would go with the Fleet Assault because of the better BOFF layout and the ability to create a really beautiful custom ship design. Ultimately I would end up getting both of cause
Would appreciate any more suggestions!
+T3 shipyard
+8 turnrate
+Transwarp
-Bad engi ensign slot
Fleet Assault:
+Good tac ensign slot
+Get wide angle torp from Regent along the way
-T5 shipyard
-7 turnrate
I think the engi slot is the clincher which makes Fleet Assault that little bit more desirable. But honestly these 2 ships are almost the same and both excellent cruisers, probably the best a Fed can get.
I've used both extensively, and I ended up settling on the Fleet Excelsior with a cannon/turret build. Its just a wee bit better.
Edit: The wiki says it does, so I'm thinking of buying that whole package just for the ship skin (my Engineer has no torpedo or particle generator specialisation). Given how similar the two ships are, I'm going to pick the FAC, as I prefer the ship's more modern design.
Hehe I see what you mean. I had to buy both and the Galor to make myself convinced I had fully optimized my fed cruiser roster. And yes, the Regent does give a discount, which is good because as I mentioned, it has the useful wide angle torpedo.
This Weapon will help you alot with broadside attacks.
The Riker Manouver console is okay, its more for fun and giggles but it can do quite some damage. But you m ight want to use something more usefull in that slot like the borg console or the zero point energy conduit or maybe that new tholian console.
The nice thing with those Fleet ships is that you dont have to deal with alot of ship specific consoles. You can use all 10 to full effect without loosing functions.
1 big thing that speaks for the Fleet Sovereign, at least for me, is that it now has the Type 6
skin available. It just looks fantastic with that hull color.
I don't plan on using the Regent's gas console as I'm not spec'd into Particle Generators either, plus I'm going to be using the Universal consoles from each of the three reputations eventually. I might post a build soon.
Edit: http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=fleetsov_0
The only thing missing is the Nukara Particle Converter which doesn't seem to be in the build planner yet (and I haven't acquired it either).
I have the non-Fleet versions and I'm stuck on the Excelsior because of its manuverability both per instance and galaxy. That is what trumped it over the Sovereign.
Good luck!
I have ranked high in PvE events regularly and in the "Land of the Escorts" I feel that it hits hard enough to take it into eSTFs as well. The Fleet version should be even better.
If nothing else, I always come back to it because the Transwarp is very addicting. Most of the locations are in the Transwarp computer, if it's not, you only be one block away.
That's my 2 ECs.
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
I always felt the Sovereign was an ugly piece of ****. Hell... all of the "modern" Federation ships fit that category - at least everything designed following DS9's end - Akira and Defiant were pretty sexy imho.
Galaxy (particularly the Dreadnought) still stands as the King of TehSehx in the cruiser category. Only too bad combat in STO PvP has veered away from the capital ship naval warfare I've come to love.
Oh well... War Thunder (http://warthunder.com) has a very interesting WWII feel, and developing their naval and land components, not to mention Wargaming's World of Warships...
...While both are still in production, it does offer what I missed in STO during my absence - true naval combat via capital ships.
So was this post meant to add to this topic, or advertise another game?
"But forum rules!!!"
...Yeah, I care about that about as much as I care about anyone else attempting to dictate my actions - IE not at all.
Besides, the post itself was in context of 4 paragraphs. You drew that assessment from 1/4 of the post?
You're right, I should have just quoted the relevant portion. But I was feeling lazy. My apologies.
I think this counts as their marketing working on me.
An excellent hull-tanking ship but a tad slow for my tastes. I haven't flown mine since the LoR release, though, so I'm not sure if the RCS console boost might have increased its viability a bit. Given that I can adequately tank through a Cube or Gate in ISE, though, in my Fleet Assault Refit, it might be a little bit superfluous. However, with points in Threat Control / embassy console, it could potentially keep aggro very well in missions which require it (think Crystalline Catastrophe). Embassy consoles are particularly good for Plasma builds thanks to the damage boost; the Fleet Galaxy-R would otherwise be hitting a bit too softly. Alternative ideas include Particle Generator / Eject Warp Plasma builds, and Directed Energy Modulation is a must.
I'd test out the non-Fleet versions, because the Fleet variant is a minor upgrade with a high cost.
If you're looking to fly a Galaxy class derivative that has some sort of feel in what it did in the TV shows and movies... STO is not the place for it.
The Galaxy classes in this game can take some hits, but that's all they do. Sure, they can repair well, but taking shots and repairs is the last thing I have in mind of the Galaxy after watching TNG for so long. The TAC BOFF & Console layout is about as weak as a Cruiser can be inflicted with.
This gripe counts against the T5 retrofit, Fleet Galaxy, and most especially the Galaxy-X.
The only thing I like is the Venture ship skin.
6 million EC and a trivial amount of fleet credits is not such a high cost.
It is by far my favorite ship and a real step up from the Galaxy-R I used to fly. I was just wondering what you guys though of them as well.
More than any DPS number-crunching, this is by far the single most important part of ship selection in my book. There's no point in flying a ship you don't like.
(I hope that doesn't sound too hypocritical given the original intention of this thread!)
They perform roughly the same so it mostly comes down to looks and the quality of life issue of the transwarp drive. You can't really make a bad choice here.
The Fleet Galaxy... I am a strong believer that you should fly whichever ship is your favorite and will make you happy. Performance-wise, the Galaxy is quite deficient compared to the other cruisers, however. But you should fly the ship you like first, then find a build to make it work second.