T6 Defiant, Vanguard warship or temporal destroyer

Comments

• Options

  protoneous Member Posts: 2,985 Arc User

  September 2021

  My favorite ships for running cannons are - Jem'Hadar Vanguard Warship, Arbiter Battlecruiser (yes really), and the Temer Alliance Raider (free from event). Am also about to test a cannon Gagarin Miracle Worker Battlecruiser (it turns a bit slower than I'm accustomed to but should be a beast).
  
  Westmetals isn't wrong about cannon Arbiters and other heavier ships (they're lots of fun, powerful and very tanky) but I think a ship with similar stats to the Alliance Raider might give you more of that escort-ish fast moving and turning feeling... it's my overall favorite. The Vanguard Warship is somewhere between the two but still feels a fair bit heavier than a traditional escort.
  
  The Alliance Raider can be configured as a Drake build but am currently running it and the others using Aux2Batt with 3 free Technician doffs from the B'Tran cluster.
  
  I'd be looking for something with a bridge officer setup that allows for both Drake and A2B builds that has 5 forward weapons... this is just my personal preference.
  
  The starship trait Withering Barrage would be worthwhile to have / consider.

  0
• Options

  seaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User

  September 2021

  That's a tough one OP.. normally I say go with the ship you want. When you say you want to be 'competitive' I am assuming you mean you want to be able to hold your own in queued content and want to be able to chew through story missions?
  
  In most cases, I just say get what you visually like to fly and then adapt a build to that ship since pretty much anything is viable as long as you're not chasing DPS records. The same is true here, but it's tougher for the Defiant because of the silly way that Cryptic builds Escort style ships. The Defiant comes with a bridge officer layout that frankly, I hate. Having 8 of the 13 available powers locked to Tactical is well.. stupid in my opinion. You can make it work, and if you really love the Defiant and that's what you want then by all means get it and we will come up with a build to fit the ship. If you're going to use Cannons, you should have that ship anyway because it's trait is phenomenal for cannon builds, it's one of the games 'must have' traits so most people own that ship anyway. If we're being honest though, because of the restrictive bridge officer layout and the fact that it has 4 forward weapons instead of 5, the truth is.. it's not a very good ship, it's just not.
  
  The alternative posed of the Arbiter Battlecruiser is one I can get on board with and is the ship I almost always recommend to people in your situation. The Arbiter is just such a good ship, especially if you don't have a lot of other ships and want the flexibility to do different things. It's bridge officer layout is very accommodating of many different builds, the 5 forward weapons make it a great ship for Cannons, it can be made to turn rather well and it's trait is the trait that all Directed Energy Weapon builds most want. It's a great ship, great layout, useful console, must have trait.. the Arbiter really is the complete package. It's looks are subjective but it comes with enough different cosmetic options that you can kit-bash it into something cool looking.
  
  There is also the Gagarin suggested above which is.. again, arguably.. the best C-Store ship for Energy Weapon Builds overall. It's an amazing ship and slightly more powerful then the Arbiter if you like Discovery era ships.
  
  If you ultimately just decide that you are only going to be happy flying a Defiant though.. then you should get the Defiant. If that's the path you take, we can make it work.. the ship is still very capable, you just won't have the punch of something like an Arbiter or a Gagarin.

  Insert witty signature line here.

  0
• Options

  mustafatennick Member Posts: 868 Arc User

  September 2021

  Wow
  
  I really appreciate the time people have taken to reply.
  
  I was really worried about posting as "what's the best ship" posts normally get ravaged
  
  Thank you so much
  
  I would rank myself as a half decent pilot. No pro by any means and in aware that gear means very little if your not getting your ability timing or weapon arcs nailed down
  
  The Gagarin has really given me food for thought. I currently run an Intel dreadnought as I love the ship that gets used as a beam boat. Would the Gagarin play similar to that or is it more nimble?
  
  I must admit the boff seating of the defiant does frustrate me a little bit
  
  By competitive I just meant mainly cruising through pve without having to respawn all the time
  
  Thanks again for all the help

  ----=====This is my opinion you don't have to listen and no one else has to read them these "OPINIONS" are based on my exploits and my learning other people will have their opinions and that's fine just don't knock my way of doing things thanks=====---- :cool:

  0