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Why Escorts ?
avengerkid1993
Member Posts: 323 Arc User
in The Academy
Hi guys, I have some questions:
1 - Why someone would choose an Escort-Class ship ?
I mean: Escorts have better speed and turn rate, but is it worth it ?
One need speed and turn rate when he have to use cannons, but since beams are way better than cannons, I don't see how one could prefer escorts over cruisers...
2 - Cruisers have their new Cruiser Commands, Science Vessels have their new Secondary Deflector ... do Escorts have something new ? Do you know if there's something good for escorts in upcoming contents ?
1 - Why someone would choose an Escort-Class ship ?
I mean: Escorts have better speed and turn rate, but is it worth it ?
One need speed and turn rate when he have to use cannons, but since beams are way better than cannons, I don't see how one could prefer escorts over cruisers...
2 - Cruisers have their new Cruiser Commands, Science Vessels have their new Secondary Deflector ... do Escorts have something new ? Do you know if there's something good for escorts in upcoming contents ?
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End game things are a little different I suppose any ship with the right skill set and equipment can be pretty devastating.
scimitar is no lockbox ship
I really LOVE escorts and DHCs, but there are a lot of things that make me think beams are better:
1 - Arc: beams have 270° firing arc, which means you only need to stay beetween 10kms from the target to get it.
2 - Hangar Pets: they are a real pain in the a** if you're running a cannon boat (or maybe its just me being a noob ahah), and cannon scatter volley doesn't always help. Of course, if you run a beam boat with BFAW everything is ok ...
The point is: I'm afraid escorts are not that good anymore ... I was just hoping to find some good reason to fly my fav ships ahahah
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My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!
You are correct, its an anomaly, though really the Scimitar is just an oversized and bloated escort, warbirds have a tendency to blur the lines after all. I was referring to the Recluse and Adapted Battlecruiser with their universal commander stations.
Some of my captains fly cruisers. Some fly science ships, escorts, warbirds, carriers.
Some use AP, most do not. The rest use Polaron, Tetryon, Plasma, Disruptors, Phasers.
Some spam BFAW, others use cannons or highly-buffed gravity wells. Many use torps.
The extra speed gives you increased defense and there are several Escorts that are deceptively tough little ships. I couldn't pull off a front facing build nearly as well on one of my cruisers as I can on my Escort. I have played with cannons since the revamp, they're much better then they used to be but DBB's are King IMO.
Escorts are a lot of fun, especially the pilot ships. I love my Cruisers too, but Escorts do things Cruisers can't. The Arbiter and Resolute can get close, but Escorts still rule with Cannons and Dual Beam Banks.
1) No? They have these thingys called "dual beam banks". They hit harder than arrays. 5 banks up front and 3 360s that hit as hard as arrays is going to be about 20% more damage than 8 arrays, roughly.
2) Pilot moves are fairly recent. Flanking is pretty sharp. Better weaponry, already said that. Better turn rate, as you noted. Better officer seating for damage (hard to beat 5 fore guns 5 tac consoles double OSS intel with any cruiser).
Conclusion... they do exactly what you would think, they trade durability for damage. They also require some skill to fly, instead of flapping about in a circle mashing FAW which has to be boring after 4 years of it?
When this game launched, Escorts had far fewer hullpoints. They were a few shades tougher than KDF Birds of Prey. There was also no Cruiser Commands, no Secondary Deflectors.
Cryptic very early in STO's history then buffs Escorts:
More Hull
Increased Bonus Defense
Bonus Defense makes it less likely to get hit, which is nice. I had a reply going into Bonus Defense as it applied to Pilot Ships when someone had reservations about those ships' ability to stay in one piece (they have zero trouble).
http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1188071/a-question-of-survivability
The 2nd reply in that post is the one where I start talking about Bonus Defense. Again, all Escorts can achieve higher Bonus Defense than other ship types; The thread is relevant to Escorts in general even though the thread was about Pilot Ships.
Both an escort and cruiser can use "fire at will". Only an escort though can use attack pattern beta/omega 3.
If you're pugging it and know what you're doing, an escort armed with cannons is far more beneficial than a FAWer, because you're able to focus your damage on the important targets, rather than have it spread around. Rather worthless when doing a 30k DPS run sure, but when you aren't sure about the skill of your teammates it can really help make up for what they're lacking.
Also, when it comes to PvP, cruisers are for the most part at a disadvantage being largely cannon fodder unless they're tricked out heal boats. Any cruiser that's inclined to doing damage can be ripped apart in mere seconds by an escorts cannons.
Finally, do not underestimate how useful speed and turnrate is to this game. Especially when it comes to flanking.
They don't need them. The reason cruiser commands and the secondary deflector were added was due to the game back then being escorts online.
An escort can happily mount Dual beam banks and FAW away, doing more damage than a cruiser (note that Scimitars arent cruisers and frankly aren't even dreadnoughts, they're fat escorts).
Daizen - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
Selia - Lvl 60 Tactical - Eclipse
The scim isnt an escort because it turns like an aircraft carrier compared to escorts that turn like speedboats.
You guys are saying that cmdr tac and 5 tac consoles makes an escort or something.
Its the very definition of a dreadnought. Its huge, its scary, and it kills anything stupid enough to stick around instead of running away. Some of the other "dreadnoughts" only have the "huge" aspect and lack firepower or any sort of intimidation factor.
The game has some really messed up definitions and most are open to a bit of interpetation but there is no way the scim is an escort. It has the firepower and consoles of one, agreed. If you want some real fun try to define cruiser ... lol ... commands? Nope, romulans. Engineering? Nope, there are tac cruisers. 4/4 guns? Nope, there are 4/4 escorts and a couple of cruisers have other layouts. No one thing fits.
Sure, a cow can be pretty devastating if going on a rampage, but it's large, easy to see, and pretty easy to avoid, where the mosquito... Well... If you've ever been stung by a mosquito around the eyes, you know how horrible that experience that can be.
Since that includes a lot of hit and run, getting in and out of weapons range, I need the most from my burst-DPS ability, and Beams are only better during sustained fire... They simply can't compete with cannons if they can't hit their target all the time.
My character Tsin'xing
One of my Alts flies the Icarus Pilot Escort... it's my second favorite ship in the game to fly, right behind the god like Arbiter. Pilot Escorts are amazing.
Certainly escorts will be even faster and more mobile with the same setup if you carry over your gear from your cruiser and carrier build(s) characterized by speed and mobility. However, I have come to personally experience that when I do just that the escorts I fly suddenly become too fast and too mobile, forcing me to tone them down quite a lot. At the same time, it allows me to reshape the escort builds by replacing some of those [Turn] consoles with let's say [Drain] consoles for more Drain Expertise, resulting in even more nasty Plasmonic leech and what not.
But all of this aside, escorts are a blast to fly. In particular if you have yet to hit that threshold I mentioned.