Best Captain Level Federation Ship?

bubbafloyd · June 2013

I've reached the level of captain and I have a difficult choice to make... which TV series ship should I select. Personally I'm happy with my Ambassador Class ship, and I might end up playing with it regardless of which ship I choose.

Frankly I stuck between the Galaxy, Defiant, and Intrepid class ships and can't make my mind up.

I'm a tactical player, but I like the engineering ships better.

Really I'm stuck on a choice between the Galaxy and the Intrepid... need some help here.

Thanks,

lordgyor · June 2013

Well your probably all set up for cruisers already so as long as you have no interest in PVP I'd go with the Exploration Cruiser, specifically the Galaxy Class.

alexrichards · June 2013

It all depends on your play style. The intrepid is more suited to a beam toting tac captain who has science bofs and skills suited to crowd control and support whilst the Galaxy suits the beam toting tac captain who can put up with the large turning arc and make use of the heal and support tank role.

bubbafloyd · June 2013

Well what is the difference between the Ambassador Class and the Galaxy or Intrepid?

I know that the Intrepid and Ambassador have the same amount of weapons slots, but have different bridge officer spots and console spots. Ambassador is more angled towards engineering while the Intrepid is more angled towards science.

Frankly I don't know how the Intrepid would be good in battle since it has about the same armor as the Ambassador, but lacks the engineering slots which can provide life saving bofs.

Also how deadly are the science bofs? I generally never use science skills on my ship. Right now I have the energy mask, which acts like a cloaking device.

thratch1 · June 2013

bubbafloyd wrote: »

Well what is the difference between the Ambassador Class and the Galaxy or Intrepid?

I know that the Intrepid and Ambassador have the same amount of weapons slots, but have different bridge officer spots and console spots. Ambassador is more angled towards engineering while the Intrepid is more angled towards science.

Frankly I don't know how the Intrepid would be good in battle since it has about the same armor as the Ambassador, but lacks the engineering slots which can provide life saving bofs.

Also how deadly are the science bofs? I generally never use science skills on my ship. Right now I have the energy mask, which acts like a cloaking device.

The Intrepid has a lot more bonus Auxiliary power than the Ambassador, and has a lot of Science Boff seats. This is awesome if you really get a lot of use out of your Science boffs; if you aren't using a lot of Science Boff abilities, then the Intrepid isn't going to do you much good compared to other ships.

The Tier 4 Galaxy is superior to the Tier 3 Ambassador in almost every way, save for its turn rate. You'll be basically playing the Galaxy the same way you already play your Ambassador; there's really no reason to keep flying the Ambassador at the Captain level.

cptjhunter · June 2013

If you are TAC, Defiant, when everything in the sector must die.:D

thratch1 · June 2013

cptjhunter wrote: »

If you are TAC, Defiant, when everything in the sector must die.:D

As much as I agree with you that the Defiant is clearly the superior ship of the three, the OP said he isn't really interested in it. Sounds like he wants to captain Cruisers, which is why I recommended the Galaxy.

bubbafloyd · June 2013

Well how much better is the defiant?

Is it hands down the best option? I went with the Akira class ship at the Commander level and I was not impressed. I really hated it.

When I got the Ambassador Class I loved it.

I'm not opposed to the defiant class, I basically just want the best possible ship.

Also when I get to the highest admiral level, do I get the Dreadnaught Galaxy, or is that a Zen deal only?

thratch1 · June 2013

bubbafloyd wrote: »

Well how much better is the defiant?

Is it hands down the best option? I went with the Akira class ship at the Commander level and I was not impressed. I really hated it.

When I got the Ambassador Class I loved it.

I'm not opposed to the defiant class, I basically just want the best possible ship.

Also when I get to the highest admiral level, do I get the Dreadnaught Galaxy, or is that a Zen deal only?

Given how this game prioritizes DPS over everything else, escorts are always the best ships for the situation.

However, judging from what you've said, it sounds like you have more fun in crusiers than escorts, and I'm not going to suggest you fly a ship that's not fun for you. If you love your Ambassador, then you'll still enjoy flying the Galaxy and other cruisers.

The Dreadnought Galaxy is only available on the C-Store for 2500 Zen ($25). They're working on a Fleet version right now, but we have no idea what its stats will be yet -- it'll probably have some Universal boff stations, and there's a rumor of it being able to use the Galaxy Retrofit's Saucer Separation console.

There is a Fleet version of the Ambassador, by the way. It's a very solid, if unremarkable, ship.

talien · June 2013

Galaxy-X is a cstore ship.

As far as Admiral level ships you can easily get the mirror universe ships off the exchange for 100k or less each. But if you really want to "try before you buy" just transfer your character over to Tribble when you hit 40 but before you do your promotion, that way you can try all the available ships there.

baudl · June 2013

escorts, or in that case the defiant will allways be the fastest way to do missions...period. superior firepower means faster space missions, grind dailys, ...
most effective for solo missions, and actually also for most grp content at endgame.

also they are pretty straight forward to setup. DC/DHC and turrets back as weapons...2xTac team to keep shields balanced and attack patterns to enhance your punch...mix in a scatter volley or a rapid fire and you got your death machine. science and engi boffs get packed with heals and heals only. hazard emmiter, transfer shield strength, EPtS...

the galaxy dread is z-store only

later and with more experiance you can try to setup a cruiser the right way
This game does not do a good job at explaining stuff like sezing up a competitive ship...this will take you atleast a month, just to figure out the basics.

also continue doing the story missions for items and expertise, you'll need it (until 20th or so there are still bonus rewards you shouldn't miss)

bubbafloyd · June 2013

thratch1 wrote: »

Given how this game prioritizes DPS over everything else, escorts are always the best ships for the situation.

However, judging from what you've said, it sounds like you have more fun in crusiers than escorts, and I'm not going to suggest you fly a ship that's not fun for you. If you love your Ambassador, then you'll still enjoy flying the Galaxy and other cruisers.

The Dreadnought Galaxy is only available on the C-Store for 2500 Zen ($25). They're working on a Fleet version right now, but we have no idea what its stats will be yet -- it'll probably have some Universal boff stations, and there's a rumor of it being able to use the Galaxy Retrofit's Saucer Separation console.

There is a Fleet version of the Ambassador, by the way. It's a very solid, if unremarkable, ship.

Hmmm... I will need to get a fleet before I can get this ship though.

Thanks for the info about this Ambassador Class Fleet variant. Will give me something to shoot for down the road.

Y'all have me on the fence now between the Galaxy and the Defiant.

thratch1 · June 2013

bubbafloyd wrote: »

Hmmm... I will need to get a fleet before I can get this ship though.

You can always do what I did, and just negotiate a deal with a Fleet for access to their shipyard. You'll still need to deposit enough Fleet Marks or whatever into a Fleet project to get the 20,000 Fleet Credits (I believe it's 50 Credits per 1 Mark, so 400 marks), as well as buy the four Fleet Ship Modules from the C-Store.

Many Fleets these days are receptive to selling Shipyard access, so when the time comes, you can shop around on the Fleet forums and find a deal that works for you.

gavinruneblade · June 2013

thratch1 wrote: »

You can always do what I did, and just negotiate a deal with a Fleet for access to their shipyard. You'll still need to deposit enough Fleet Marks or whatever into a Fleet project to get the 20,000 Fleet Credits (I believe it's 50 Credits per 1 Mark, so 400 marks), as well as buy the four Fleet Ship Modules from the C-Store.

Many Fleets these days are receptive to selling Shipyard access, so when the time comes, you can shop around on the Fleet forums and find a deal that works for you.

You can also buy the fleet ship modules on the auction house. 5m EC is a good price for one, they've been hovering over 6m lately as new romulan characters are straining supply. But it does drift up and down throughout the day.

If you have some zen but not enough, people are generally bad at math. The 275 zen fleet duty officer pack is selling for a tick over 4m EC each. Buy 5 of those for 1375 zen and sell them for 20-24 million EC, then buy the fleet modules and keep the change. Compared to 2,000 zen for 4 fleet modules it's quite a discount.

Also, while the posters have been correct in that damage makes things faster, in my experience faster does not mean more fun. And "best possible ship" means something different to everyone. Escorts kill faster but they are not tanks. They can be rather survivable, but never as tough as an equally well built cruiser.

If all you care about is killing speed, then yes the defiant is the top.

Also, for what it's worth many people don't like the performance of the z-store Galaxy-X dreadnaught. It is nicknamed the Failaxy-X by many. I've been playing the non-fleet T5 ambassador from the holiday event and it's a very functional end-game ship. The fleet version is noticeably better with more shields, more hull, one more console and I believe one more bridge officer power but I might be mistaken on that last bit.

Still, I enjoy it quite a lot and I can hold my own in elite end game content and even pick up the slack for those who cannot.

queeg9000 · June 2013

If you hated the akira,an escort I would assume you will hate the defiant witch is another escort.Yeah they got slightly different stats but the play style remains almost the same.

If getting your ambassador cruiser was a godsend that got you out of your awful escort you wasn't enjoying I would go with the galaxy.

I had the opposite I was loving my bird of prey and got the cruiser free,tried it and hated it.
At captain everyone said get the raptor...I got another BOP because I enjoyed the play style.Don't go with whats best go with what you like.

Also bear in mind everything in an mmo is subject to drastic change and whats best now may not be best later down the line.

bubbafloyd · June 2013

Hmmm... I think I might end up getting the defiant as an alternate attack ship given its serious fire power. I really need a good escort ship for my stable of ships. Like I said before I really hated the akira ship, but in all it did handle well.

I have the Ambassador as my cruiser ship and I will likely keep it as my end game ship, until I can replace it with the Fleet Ambassador.

I figure that the Intrepid will be useless for me, and the Galaxy is just a larger version of what I have now. All be it a really good version of what I have now. In any event I figure that I can try out the defiant and then if I hate it I can go back to the Ambassador.

Its not that I like cruisers, its that I like the Ambassador Class... I was not too fond of the Constitution Class.

tobiasosir · June 2013

I play the fleet defiant, and love it--but as one poster mentioned, it's fast at completing missions and grind--almost too fast. I sometimes find that it becomes a "point, shoot, win" sort of ship. Personally, I mostly use it for getting through missions for rewards and drops--when I want to have fun playing, I go back to my ambassador.

I was lucky enough to get the third year anniversary event ship, but will be upgrading to the fleet version soon. Of all the cruisers I've played, I like it the most. It's got a great Boff layout at T5--one of the few ships that lets you use the gravity well/jet warp plasma combo, which can be devastating when used properly. Plus I believe the fleet version has one of the highest hulls on the Fed side.

Ultimately, though, it doesn't matter a whole lot--levelling takes so little time that you'll be out of it soon enough. Think about what you want for your endgame, and go that way--in which case I'd recommend the defiant at level 40. You know you like cruisers, and can aim for the fleet ambassador--try something else this level!

Best Captain Level Federation Ship?

Comments