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Resolute Adv. Heavy Cruiser: Initial Impression
welcome2earf
Member Posts: 1,746 Arc User
Ah yes - time for a quick Amazon user review of the Excelsior class update, the Resolute Advanced Heavy Cruiser (T6).
Being a fan of the Fleet T5U Excelsior, I was tickled when the word came out that an update to this vaunted starship with so much history was to be released. Suffice it to say, when the pics and specs came out, I was somewhat...confused. Now, I could go on about the game meta and how this ship fits into that, but I'll leave that to another thread. The point of this posting is to perhaps act as a buyers guide when considering this ship.
First, lets talk about aesthetics and overall look of the ship:
The ship is said to be inspired by the classic look of the excelsior. Well The secondary hull and the neck both have great, updated and modernized lines that clearly harken back to the Ship that Sulu made so popular years ago.
But that's where it stops. In keeping with their current design aesthetic, for some reason Cryptic decided to go with a chevron-shape for the saucer which is more reminiscent of the current batch of command cruisers than the Excelsior. It just looks...out of place, as if the saucer was an alternate for another ship and they just kinda slapped it onto this frame. This is boggling simply because there already is a circular saucer for the command ships that would have been more appropriate for an updated excelsior than a chevron shape. It just makes it look like a kitbash. Cheap. Uninspired.
That said, you can get some interesting combinations mixing old and new parts, like here:
Boff Layout:
I find the layout...puzzling. Its designed for tanking, but is limited to a single, measly Lt.Cmdr tac spot, and a Lt,Cmdr Command/Engineering hybrid spot. It also has an ensign engineering spot (?) and a lt sci spot. I find this...odd. Why not an ensign uni? Because of the lack of flexibility, you end up with possible overlap of semi-worthless engineering powers. It's just..odd. It turned one of the best cruisers in the game to something that is a jack of some trades, master of NONE that apply in the current meta, which is still about DPS. Would have it killed them to make it a uni slot?
Another point - and this is a big one - is the decision to make it a command variant and not a pilot ship? A pilot ship fits the them of the Excelsior, and as many people in the forums have pointed out, the Pilot Ability "Fly Her Apart" is a direct homage to this ship!!! I can only assume they had no desire to gut sales of the current pilot ships with a cheaper alternate. Just makes no damn sense otherwise.
Console Abilites:
The console isn't too bad: it comes with a passive, fulltime buff to flight speed and turn rate. It adds minimal buffs to energy and kinetic resistance. It also comes with it is a short-term buff that scales based on how many enemies in combat range. It lasts for a few seconds then goes on a 2 minute cooldown. Itself is underwhelming, but when paired with the console that comes with the older c-store version, there IS a 2-pc bonus (not listed on the site, for some reason.) It's not too bad:
+15% Weapon Damage (not sure what category)
+10% recharge on ALL Bridge Officer abilities.
Not bad at all - it could come in quite useful, even for some people that are doing perhaps lighter versions of A2B. I have yet to test it out simple because I'm at work. I'll have to update this sub part at a later time.
Special Ability (Trait):
"Improved Weapons Emitters" - think of it as a poor-mans Kemocite Laced Weaponry: Radiation damage per second for 15 seconds that is limited to an anemic 3 km range. What? That is utterly USELESS for cruisers. 5k, at the very least, but 3 km? Ugh.
Field Testing:
I found this craft wanting, and VERY reminiscent of the Kobali Samsar cruiser in overall feel and utility. Which kinda sucks; I think I speak for many of us when I believe the Samsar was a ship we all suffered through long enough for the ship trait then soundly dropped. This ship is similar. I haven't achieved mastery level 5 yet, but I feel like after I do, I will simply go back to my trusty Fleet T5u and perhaps just use the costume pieces. It just seemed like this ship didn't know what it was trying to be - a subpar command ship or a sub-par tanker?
TL:DR
Good:
Extra Costume Parts for a popular heritage ship
2 Pc Bonus and console may have uses in some builds
Slightly cheaper than other Z-Store ships at 2500 Zen
Bad:
Some new costume parts make no sense - looks like a kitbash
Lt. Cmdr Tac
Command Hybrid Instead of Pilot Seating
Engineering Ensign instead of more practical Universal seat.
Keep in mind this is just my opinion and initial reaction to it. It may change as time goes on. for now, I am not sure if I could comfortably suggest a buy on this ship. Again, this is just my initial impressions so far.
Being a fan of the Fleet T5U Excelsior, I was tickled when the word came out that an update to this vaunted starship with so much history was to be released. Suffice it to say, when the pics and specs came out, I was somewhat...confused. Now, I could go on about the game meta and how this ship fits into that, but I'll leave that to another thread. The point of this posting is to perhaps act as a buyers guide when considering this ship.
First, lets talk about aesthetics and overall look of the ship:
The ship is said to be inspired by the classic look of the excelsior. Well The secondary hull and the neck both have great, updated and modernized lines that clearly harken back to the Ship that Sulu made so popular years ago.
But that's where it stops. In keeping with their current design aesthetic, for some reason Cryptic decided to go with a chevron-shape for the saucer which is more reminiscent of the current batch of command cruisers than the Excelsior. It just looks...out of place, as if the saucer was an alternate for another ship and they just kinda slapped it onto this frame. This is boggling simply because there already is a circular saucer for the command ships that would have been more appropriate for an updated excelsior than a chevron shape. It just makes it look like a kitbash. Cheap. Uninspired.
That said, you can get some interesting combinations mixing old and new parts, like here:
(I was using my laptop for the screenies..please excuse the crappy resolution)
Boff Layout:
I find the layout...puzzling. Its designed for tanking, but is limited to a single, measly Lt.Cmdr tac spot, and a Lt,Cmdr Command/Engineering hybrid spot. It also has an ensign engineering spot (?) and a lt sci spot. I find this...odd. Why not an ensign uni? Because of the lack of flexibility, you end up with possible overlap of semi-worthless engineering powers. It's just..odd. It turned one of the best cruisers in the game to something that is a jack of some trades, master of NONE that apply in the current meta, which is still about DPS. Would have it killed them to make it a uni slot?
Another point - and this is a big one - is the decision to make it a command variant and not a pilot ship? A pilot ship fits the them of the Excelsior, and as many people in the forums have pointed out, the Pilot Ability "Fly Her Apart" is a direct homage to this ship!!! I can only assume they had no desire to gut sales of the current pilot ships with a cheaper alternate. Just makes no damn sense otherwise.
Console Abilites:
The console isn't too bad: it comes with a passive, fulltime buff to flight speed and turn rate. It adds minimal buffs to energy and kinetic resistance. It also comes with it is a short-term buff that scales based on how many enemies in combat range. It lasts for a few seconds then goes on a 2 minute cooldown. Itself is underwhelming, but when paired with the console that comes with the older c-store version, there IS a 2-pc bonus (not listed on the site, for some reason.) It's not too bad:
+15% Weapon Damage (not sure what category)
+10% recharge on ALL Bridge Officer abilities.
Not bad at all - it could come in quite useful, even for some people that are doing perhaps lighter versions of A2B. I have yet to test it out simple because I'm at work. I'll have to update this sub part at a later time.
Special Ability (Trait):
"Improved Weapons Emitters" - think of it as a poor-mans Kemocite Laced Weaponry: Radiation damage per second for 15 seconds that is limited to an anemic 3 km range. What? That is utterly USELESS for cruisers. 5k, at the very least, but 3 km? Ugh.
Field Testing:
I found this craft wanting, and VERY reminiscent of the Kobali Samsar cruiser in overall feel and utility. Which kinda sucks; I think I speak for many of us when I believe the Samsar was a ship we all suffered through long enough for the ship trait then soundly dropped. This ship is similar. I haven't achieved mastery level 5 yet, but I feel like after I do, I will simply go back to my trusty Fleet T5u and perhaps just use the costume pieces. It just seemed like this ship didn't know what it was trying to be - a subpar command ship or a sub-par tanker?
TL:DR
Good:
Extra Costume Parts for a popular heritage ship
2 Pc Bonus and console may have uses in some builds
Slightly cheaper than other Z-Store ships at 2500 Zen
Bad:
Some new costume parts make no sense - looks like a kitbash
Lt. Cmdr Tac
Command Hybrid Instead of Pilot Seating
Engineering Ensign instead of more practical Universal seat.
Keep in mind this is just my opinion and initial reaction to it. It may change as time goes on. for now, I am not sure if I could comfortably suggest a buy on this ship. Again, this is just my initial impressions so far.
0
Comments
When you say:
Why would you do that?
The ship has basically the same layout as your T5U but allows the flexibility of Command Abilities. It's still ever so slightly better then the T5U version, wouldn't it make more sense to fly the Resolute and use the Excelsior costume instead?
Giving it a pilot hybrid won't have affect sales of the Pilot ship as it wouldn't have the special pilot maneuvers any more than with the Command hybrid it has inspiration.
The Tactical Command Battlecruiser can do everything the Excelsior can do, only better.
Except for the skin and turn rate, there is no reason to get this ship gameplay wise.
Which saddens me, with the T5 Excelsior being my first purchase, and my trusted flagship for 2 and a half years.
Join the Deltas today!
Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother's, and yours.
I dare you to do better.
Wow...kinda acerbic. And now we're splitting hairs over semantics. Even without the word "then", the power naming is still an homage to Sulu's line, and by extension the Excelsior. So I think it's a fair argument.
So it sucks.
There is also a new lockbox engineering skill, I believe it was in the previous lockbox.
Assuming it was a homage and not 'we need a Star Trek quote for this power, someone find something that sounds vaguely relevant'.
As far as the Command hybrid slot, I do not think that any Federation cruisers (not battle cruisers or dreadnoughts) will get a LtC hybrid slots that are not Command. I believe that the LtC Pilot Hybrid slots will be reserved for escorts and LtC Intel slots will be reserved for battle cruisers and dreadnoughts; at least for the Fed side of things.
Because it's a dumb choice to go back to the T5U Excelsior when you just bought the damn T6 one. The trait may not be to your liking. Roger, I get that. That doesn't mean you MUST use that Trait because you're using the T6 ship. The T6 version also has the Command Hybrid station and the +1 BOFF skill ability. And you want to downgrade to the T5U version of the same ship that has none of that?
BAFFLING
Indeed.
That's the point I was actually trying to make. Not sure if it's just the quoting thing, but the OP said he was going to stick with the T5, I was saying what you're saying.
If they made a T6 Hafeh and its not much better then a Fleet T5U but it has some nice customization. I might get it.
I still would fly the T5U and just get everything on it to Epic. Special boff slot or not. Especially if the ship trait is mediocre.
As for the ship itself, I put the old Excel skin on it and it's actually fairly reasonable. I might have to try out the 2 piece though.
Rayzee
excellentawesome#4589
torgaddon101
raeat
I do wish the third was universal or a lt eng slot... or at the least the science dept be lt commander as well... oh well... She's a nasty tank with the ability to have maxed out powers...
It's a battleship at approximately 90k HP.
Thats the thing, it is not about being uglier or not lol, ow some of you still dont get it!! hahaha.
I think what I was attempting to communicate was something to the effect of "Why even bother" - and of course, clearly you're correct - why go back to a T5U from this. I was clumsily trying to share frustration more than anything.
Me personally would stick to the a fleet T5U and only get the T6 if it had a nice skin. If the update follow the same line of the T6 Excelsoir I definitely wouldn't upgrade. If it had marginally update, but good skin. I would get the T6 only for the skin.
Now if it had a Lt. Commander Intel and Commander Pilot plus extra console, higher hull, special offensive trait, and maybe Lt. Universal.
Throw in a extra goodie then maybe it will be time to talk with Cryptic
The dude already BOUGHT the T6 Excelsior. The T6 version of a ship has inarguable improvements over the T5U version. Whether that merits a player to buy the T6 ship is a different story for each person. But he already BOUGHT the same ship that has these T6 improvements and is going back to the T5U version. It's still baffling
But I am in no rush whatsoever to do so, just speaking hypothetically.
It does...the pics I posted only show some of them. You can fully mix and match all versions you own.
Maybe the guy hasn't actually bought the FT6 and doesn't think the LtC Eng/Comm is worth it? I know I'd rather fly a FT5U over a plain T6, especially when they're the same ship.
Can we get some more (canon) KDF outfits, an assortment of respectable skirts/dresses, a long jacket (and more clothes in general) that does plain white well, melee weapon and Mk 15 drops, a T6 Nova, and account-wide lockbox/lobi/promo ships & consoles? Oh, and...
He posted a full review and pics of the ship..
Pretty sure he's already purchased it.
The advantage of a FT5U you have and have good feelings and memories of over a FT6 you don't have and feel burned by purchasing the base ship, let alone the additional cost of upgrading, as little as it may be, should be obvious (possession). Now, if there is a FT6 in the roster and is just waiting for mastery of the base T6, then I agree that not using the FT6 over the FT5U is, well, baffling. Or daft. Either works.
Can we get some more (canon) KDF outfits, an assortment of respectable skirts/dresses, a long jacket (and more clothes in general) that does plain white well, melee weapon and Mk 15 drops, a T6 Nova, and account-wide lockbox/lobi/promo ships & consoles? Oh, and...