Those pods are actually rapid-fire torpedo launchers, from what I've read. Built at a time when full integration was too costly, so they just "bolted them on", as it were.
Okay guys, thanks for clearing that up. Looks like I gotta wait and wait for new stuff. But I guess it'll give me a chance to do some stuff with my Klingon and science characters.
This. A thousand times this. I fly an Excelsior refit purely because it's my favourite ship in the Trekverse. I'm just lucky that the devs love it so much that they gave it uber stats so it could keep up with the Soverign and other more modern ships. The fist chance I got, I grabbed a Consititution refit off of the…
I fly an Excelsior refit, and find it's a great all-rounder. I tried using a star cruiser for a few missions, but ended up going back to the Excelsior. It just couldn't put up with the kind of punishment, or deal it iself, that I was used to.