I have flown / currently flying the following T6 escorts and I can definitely feel that each one flies a bit differently due to the ships stats; specifically turn rate and inertia. They feel somewhat sluggish compared to a Bird of Prey which is a raider.
However, I have to say that I do not consider escorts my forte, I general prefer cruisers, battlecruisers and above all else, BoPs even though using DHCs is a bit of a handicap when fighting against mobs.
Honestly, if you've flown one Escort you've flown them all. They all play pretty much the same.
I personally like the T5-U Steamrunner the most.
true. other than skins, slots and any specials such as traits and starting stats, they are all the same. But they make some mean toys!
Eh, if you like the skin then that's all you. Honestly, that's really the only reason I like the Steamrunner the most out of all the escorts (and the nostalgia factor). I think Starship Traits should really be qualified independantly from the ship itself based on performance (since you aren't really locked into using that trait).
The starting stats of an Escort are also pretty much a non-issue from a practical standpoint. You're going to kill things within a few seconds of opening fire if you know what tactical abilities to use and in what order. Things like additional hull hp, ship regeneration rate, starting weapon power, turn rate, sci/eng console slots, and even non-tactical boff seating is ultimately just a matter of personal preference, and has little bearing on whether or not an Escort is good at its overwhelmingly easy role in space combat.
I guess pick whatever toys look the coolest to you. Maybe you like the way a certain ship design looks. Maybe you want the Reciprocity trait from the Intel Escort (because it's honestly a pretty good one to have on multiple ships, not just Escorts). Maybe you have some fun ideas of what to do with a particular ship console.
A Commander Tactical Boff seat, combined with weapons with a nice forward firing arc (like DBBs or DHCs), and 5 tac consoles is really all that's needed to define the "best" escort, and most, if not all Escorts share these fundamental values.
The Pilot Maneuvers, once you get them down make the Pilot Ships ridiculously hard to kill. Using Pilot Maneuvers lets you ignore damage for 3 seconds, and you can do it every 6-7 seconds, it's crazy powerful. Anyone that tells you they're over rated either hasn't used a Pilot ship or hasn't used them correctly. Pilot Maneuvers are an absolute game changer for escorts that revolutionized the class.
If they aren't your cup of tea, that's cool too.. the T6 Defiant (Valiant) is great for those that use Cannons, otherwise go with the T6 Hestia.
Honestly, if you pick one of those two or a Pilot Ship, you really can't lose.
If you are new to escorts and plan to get one I’d pick the Icarus pilot escort OP. @seaofsorrows described the preferences of the pilot ships well.
The Icarus would give you a cool boff layout as well as 4 sci- and 5 tac console slots.
Alternative escort for me is the JHSS. Sadly no pilot maneuvers but quiet tough and with Intel powers (OSS3). For those of us that are made of EC the Kelvin D4X or the new TOS Romulan one from promo pack look awsome too. The D4X has pilot stuff as well and the Romulan one can use the temporal power recursive sharing. Quiet deadly on a spike damaging escort.
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Pilot Escorts are the escortiest Escorts there are. You won't regret it. Pilot Maneuvers are awesome. Work both as BFAW boats (Dual Beam Banks) or cannon boats.
If you don't like them, any T6 Escort will work. I personally prefer the Tactical Escort, because it's the "original" Star Trek Escort. The Tactical Escort only makes sense as cannon boat, everything else would be sacrilege.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
The escort used to be my bread and butter anyways things change. First thier is not such thing as the best vaiant. Going to explain that in more detail.
If you go with a Defiant or Bop variant, your going to be zipping around at a good clip. With regen shields you will be switching arcs all the time to balance out inc fire are each arc as it gets drained. Last but not least you will be doing allot of damage with the right gear.
Akiras or carrier escorts, you will have more speed and turn rate then a cruiser, but you will not be zipping around like if you were in a Defiant or bop. You will still have the damage but you will find yourself restricted by the lack of speed and movement. At the same time your ability for survival will be higher then that of a Bop or Defiant.
Advanced escort is probably the one about middle between the two types I described above.
Now we get to pilot ships. This is a decision your going to have to make, as for me I refused to use them. To me they are cheat ships. No skill required. You get a huge turn rate, in fact better then that a Defiant variant, and you get pilot abilities to prevent inc fire from hitting you. Dont get me wrong I like a powerful ship, but pilot ships seem wrong both via star trek, and they seem more like a cheat then anything else.
What I just wrote down is the basics to make a point. What escort you pick should be based upon, what your planning on doing with it, and what you enjoy. Example the Akira/carrier escorts can rip things apart in pve, but I would never take one into pvp. A good klingon bop pilot will rip you a new one before you even know what hit you. It also is determined by do you want a challenge. I dont see any challenge at all flying a pilot ship. A bird of prey or a Defiant you really have to know how to fly and use an escort in a elite stf in one of those. If you dont your going to be blowing up allot.
As to the current player base they can fill you in on the details of bridge officers slots, and whatever is the current meta for weapon builds. I just wanted to put some thoughts out their for you to consider if you want to. Allot of people say whats the best ship/class but it really comes down to the things I mentioned above. I wish you luck in your choice and selection.
At the end of the day all escorts are good for their primary role; killing stuff. It's just the extra bits that change, like the looks, cloaks, hull & shields. Pilot shops are probably best IF you can use the manuvers correctly to get the best out of the ships.
I love the pilot ships. The boff seating and console layout is fantastic and the maneuvers give it an incredible edge over normal escorts.
That said, there are many others that are great and are well above anything you'd ever need to do well in the game.
Before the pilot ships came out I used the andorian escort because of the boff layout and boff seats. Before that I had a chel gret (actually a cruiser, but hey...I played it as an escort)
Before that, I had the T5 Defiant and the multi-vector prometheus.
There wasn't actually any escort I was really disapointed with so far. Haven't tested them all though...some just do not apeal to me, be it due to strange boff seats or general looks.
There's something perversely satisfying about releasing a nadion bomb on a target.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
There's something perversely satisfying about releasing a nadion bomb on a target.
^This
In my case, the Tempest is the one ship my tac keeps coming back to, she also uses the T6 Defiant when I want to unleash six or seven figure damage numbers. Ultimately I find the Tempest just handles my balance of speed and tanking better than the Valiant which ends up spinning on the spot when I turn too fast.
I did try using the pilot escorts but it didn't work out, I couldn't use DHCs because I like to fly too fast and using beams (though effective if I'd tuned the build properly) was just plain boring, that's what I have cruisers for.
There's something perversely satisfying about releasing a nadion bomb on a target.
I wish they would give the Patrol Escort the T6 Treatment, kind of strange that they haven't.
Before T6 dropped, this was the hands down top dog Escort and up there with the Scimitar as the top ship overall. They were very popular as well, I have always found it odd that it was overlooked for a T6 Variant.
I love flying mine, throw out a Gravity Well and then a Saturation Bomb.. just plain mean.
Generally, when someone asks for a ship recommendation, I don't recommend T5 ships because I feel they aren't worth the money, but the Fleet Patrol Escort Refit is an exception. It's an awesome ship. I think it's the only T5 I still take out and fly.
There's something perversely satisfying about releasing a nadion bomb on a target.
I love flying mine, throw out a Gravity Well and then a Saturation Bomb.. just plain mean.
Try tossing in a Trico cluster.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
1. Defiant(all variants)
2. Phantom intel
3. Mat'ha Raptor
4. Fed Pilots(wish defiant got the pilot maneuvers)
5. Hestia(though I don't have her, I do respect her)
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
I agree pilot escorts are pretty much top tier as you get, though I personally like the patrol escort, Vaadwaur Manasa, along with Vorgon heavy escort. Though I do so wish they would kick out a tier six patrol escort it would be so fitting if they gave it something console an trait wise that centered around that rear-mounted dual tempest cannon. Like a trait that focuses on buffing your forward-weapon's output during the time you are banking off a target/s to make a new attack run.
Personally, I would like the T6 Patrol Escort to have a Strategic seat (once complete)... For that mounted cannon, give it a 360 firing arc and the capacity to benefit from both Beam and Cannon Boff skill (fire at will, rapid fire, etc).
I thought the Phantom was going to be a stealthier Defiant, but it breaks too easily I found. I got hooked on battle cruisers when I started my KDF toon way back when, and started doing that with feds ever after. I still have more than a few escorts in my inventory, but don't usually fly them unless I am feeling twitchy. Whatever anyone else says, try the 5/3 layout on whatever ship you decide upon. It's pretty awesome.
For marksman/snipers nothing beats the Romulan T6 Intel escort warbird. Fully buffed the Lance console can do 150k damage (if I remember correctly) and then override safety and surgical strikes mincemeats through every one enemy - plus it's a nice Change from using Fire at will...
18 characters
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
For marksman/snipers nothing beats the Romulan T6 Intel escort warbird. Fully buffed the Lance console can do 150k damage (if I remember correctly) and then override safety and surgical strikes mincemeats through every one enemy - plus it's a nice Change from using Fire at will...
The Faeth is nice, but technically it is not an escort.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
While I agree with most of the comments in this thread, that the Pilot escorts and also the FPER are possibly the best escorts in the game (have flown them, too), there's one escort I'd like to mention, because it is very satisfying flying her and blowing stuff up and at the same time not blowing up myself. The ship I mean is the Saber class, especially the Mirror version with the Sci Lt.Cmd. which can run atleast GW1. She's small, nimble, has a decent amount of fire power despite her only having 9 console slots... So, not a recommendation as such, just a reminder, that there are more ships out there besides the Pilot escorts.
Tholian mesh weaver, best 4 mill EC i ever spent, very fast and potent little ship and the best part is she can pack grav well 1
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Comments
true. other than skins, slots and any specials such as traits and starting stats, they are all the same. But they make some mean toys!
#1 - Fed Intel Phantom
#2 - Vorgon Xyfus Heavy Escort
#3 - Romulan Faeht Intel Warbird
#4 - KDF Mat'ha Raptor
However, I have to say that I do not consider escorts my forte, I general prefer cruisers, battlecruisers and above all else, BoPs even though using DHCs is a bit of a handicap when fighting against mobs.
Eh, if you like the skin then that's all you. Honestly, that's really the only reason I like the Steamrunner the most out of all the escorts (and the nostalgia factor). I think Starship Traits should really be qualified independantly from the ship itself based on performance (since you aren't really locked into using that trait).
The starting stats of an Escort are also pretty much a non-issue from a practical standpoint. You're going to kill things within a few seconds of opening fire if you know what tactical abilities to use and in what order. Things like additional hull hp, ship regeneration rate, starting weapon power, turn rate, sci/eng console slots, and even non-tactical boff seating is ultimately just a matter of personal preference, and has little bearing on whether or not an Escort is good at its overwhelmingly easy role in space combat.
I guess pick whatever toys look the coolest to you. Maybe you like the way a certain ship design looks. Maybe you want the Reciprocity trait from the Intel Escort (because it's honestly a pretty good one to have on multiple ships, not just Escorts). Maybe you have some fun ideas of what to do with a particular ship console.
A Commander Tactical Boff seat, combined with weapons with a nice forward firing arc (like DBBs or DHCs), and 5 tac consoles is really all that's needed to define the "best" escort, and most, if not all Escorts share these fundamental values.
The Pilot Maneuvers, once you get them down make the Pilot Ships ridiculously hard to kill. Using Pilot Maneuvers lets you ignore damage for 3 seconds, and you can do it every 6-7 seconds, it's crazy powerful. Anyone that tells you they're over rated either hasn't used a Pilot ship or hasn't used them correctly. Pilot Maneuvers are an absolute game changer for escorts that revolutionized the class.
If they aren't your cup of tea, that's cool too.. the T6 Defiant (Valiant) is great for those that use Cannons, otherwise go with the T6 Hestia.
Honestly, if you pick one of those two or a Pilot Ship, you really can't lose.
The Icarus would give you a cool boff layout as well as 4 sci- and 5 tac console slots.
Alternative escort for me is the JHSS. Sadly no pilot maneuvers but quiet tough and with Intel powers (OSS3). For those of us that are made of EC the Kelvin D4X or the new TOS Romulan one from promo pack look awsome too. The D4X has pilot stuff as well and the Romulan one can use the temporal power recursive sharing. Quiet deadly on a spike damaging escort.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
If you don't like them, any T6 Escort will work. I personally prefer the Tactical Escort, because it's the "original" Star Trek Escort. The Tactical Escort only makes sense as cannon boat, everything else would be sacrilege.
If you go with a Defiant or Bop variant, your going to be zipping around at a good clip. With regen shields you will be switching arcs all the time to balance out inc fire are each arc as it gets drained. Last but not least you will be doing allot of damage with the right gear.
Akiras or carrier escorts, you will have more speed and turn rate then a cruiser, but you will not be zipping around like if you were in a Defiant or bop. You will still have the damage but you will find yourself restricted by the lack of speed and movement. At the same time your ability for survival will be higher then that of a Bop or Defiant.
Advanced escort is probably the one about middle between the two types I described above.
Now we get to pilot ships. This is a decision your going to have to make, as for me I refused to use them. To me they are cheat ships. No skill required. You get a huge turn rate, in fact better then that a Defiant variant, and you get pilot abilities to prevent inc fire from hitting you. Dont get me wrong I like a powerful ship, but pilot ships seem wrong both via star trek, and they seem more like a cheat then anything else.
What I just wrote down is the basics to make a point. What escort you pick should be based upon, what your planning on doing with it, and what you enjoy. Example the Akira/carrier escorts can rip things apart in pve, but I would never take one into pvp. A good klingon bop pilot will rip you a new one before you even know what hit you. It also is determined by do you want a challenge. I dont see any challenge at all flying a pilot ship. A bird of prey or a Defiant you really have to know how to fly and use an escort in a elite stf in one of those. If you dont your going to be blowing up allot.
As to the current player base they can fill you in on the details of bridge officers slots, and whatever is the current meta for weapon builds. I just wanted to put some thoughts out their for you to consider if you want to. Allot of people say whats the best ship/class but it really comes down to the things I mentioned above. I wish you luck in your choice and selection.
1) Phantom Intel escort
2) Vorgon Xyfus hvy escort
3) Vaadwaur Manasa
4) Na'kuhl Tadaari raider (technically a raider)
At the end of the day all escorts are good for their primary role; killing stuff. It's just the extra bits that change, like the looks, cloaks, hull & shields.
Pilot shops are probably best IF you can use the manuvers correctly to get the best out of the ships.
That said, there are many others that are great and are well above anything you'd ever need to do well in the game.
Before the pilot ships came out I used the andorian escort because of the boff layout and boff seats. Before that I had a chel gret (actually a cruiser, but hey...I played it as an escort)
Before that, I had the T5 Defiant and the multi-vector prometheus.
There wasn't actually any escort I was really disapointed with so far. Haven't tested them all though...some just do not apeal to me, be it due to strange boff seats or general looks.
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Patrol_Escort_Refit
There's something perversely satisfying about releasing a nadion bomb on a target.
^This
In my case, the Tempest is the one ship my tac keeps coming back to, she also uses the T6 Defiant when I want to unleash six or seven figure damage numbers. Ultimately I find the Tempest just handles my balance of speed and tanking better than the Valiant which ends up spinning on the spot when I turn too fast.
I did try using the pilot escorts but it didn't work out, I couldn't use DHCs because I like to fly too fast and using beams (though effective if I'd tuned the build properly) was just plain boring, that's what I have cruisers for.
I wish they would give the Patrol Escort the T6 Treatment, kind of strange that they haven't.
Before T6 dropped, this was the hands down top dog Escort and up there with the Scimitar as the top ship overall. They were very popular as well, I have always found it odd that it was overlooked for a T6 Variant.
I love flying mine, throw out a Gravity Well and then a Saturation Bomb.. just plain mean.
Generally, when someone asks for a ship recommendation, I don't recommend T5 ships because I feel they aren't worth the money, but the Fleet Patrol Escort Refit is an exception. It's an awesome ship. I think it's the only T5 I still take out and fly.
They're classified as 'Destroyers' though I'll admit.. it's a fine line.
Try tossing in a Trico cluster.
Once you start flying them, you will really feel just how slow and cumbersome cruisers/dreads can be.
1. Defiant(all variants)
2. Phantom intel
3. Mat'ha Raptor
4. Fed Pilots(wish defiant got the pilot maneuvers)
5. Hestia(though I don't have her, I do respect her)
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
http://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1145998/star-trek-battles-channel-got-canon/p1
For that mounted cannon, give it a 360 firing arc and the capacity to benefit from both Beam and Cannon Boff skill (fire at will, rapid fire, etc).
Is the Ouroboros an Escort? I may be mixing it up, but I thought that was one of the big ones - looks like a squid.
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ouroboros_Temporal_Raider
The designers DO like a good squid, tho...
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Sagittarius_Temporal_Cruiser
I thought the Phantom was going to be a stealthier Defiant, but it breaks too easily I found. I got hooked on battle cruisers when I started my KDF toon way back when, and started doing that with feds ever after. I still have more than a few escorts in my inventory, but don't usually fly them unless I am feeling twitchy. Whatever anyone else says, try the 5/3 layout on whatever ship you decide upon. It's pretty awesome.
KDF: 2 tacs, 2 engs, 3 scis
KDF Roms: 3 tacs, 1 eng, 1 scis
FED: 2 tacs, 1 eng, 2 scis
TOS: 1 tac
all on T5 rep (up to temporal)
all have mastered Intel tree (and some more specs Points)
highest DPS: 60.982
The Faeth is nice, but technically it is not an escort.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius