There is also an issue where many hangar pets will no longer use Full Impulse to keep up with their carrier. In large maps the pets end up getting left behind and disappear from the hangar UI.
I think the absolute highest dps ship you can get, within reason, is the Recluse. You will need 80m or so EC to get it, or 800 lobi. Some other fantastic ships for dps are the Jem'Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier and the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier. The first is around 70m and the second is around 80.
Crew isn't really a meaningful statistic. The crew of my JHEC drops to 0 regularly, and there is very little effect. I wouldn't worry about it overly much.
You have it mostly correct, though I would get rid of that text build in your OP and only go with the links. It's confusing. I would switch your copy of EPtA for EPtE, but that's just me. I don't see a use for EPtA in combat pretty much ever, since you will be using EPtW and EPtS almost exclusively. If you switch EPtA for…
It depends on the STF you are doing, but some of those hits might be coming from borg Isometric Charges, which hit stupidly hard, even harder than the player versions can. They can ignore shields as well, which I'm sure is a bug, albeit a smaller one, and can be hard to see if you aren't looking for them. The AOE they do…
Cruisers can potentially out dps escorts by hitting everything in range no matter where the target happens to be. Weapon arc is extremely important, and it is much easier to get an enemy into the arc of 8 beams than it is to get them into the arc of 4 dhcs. You also need to consider range. All energy weapons have a damage…
You shouldn't ever need an RCS on a beamboat. Evasive maneuvers should be more than enough to get you back into broadside if you find yourself out of your weapon arc. I recommend either the Tachykinetic Converter if you don't already have it or an EPS console.
The fact that cruisers are some of the highest dps ships in the game pretty much invalidates your entire argument. In fact, it's easier to get high dps on a cruiser than it is to get high dps on an escort (unless you are using a beamscort.)
I think the intent is that you use the Secondary Shields once or right before your primary shields fall. Then you can use a healing ability to restore your primary shields before the secondary fails.
1. You have the Omega Torp, largely a waste of time on a beam boat because you will be forced to turn out of your broadside to use it. If you really want a torp, use the wide angle quantum torpedo from the Assault Cruiser Refit. 2. You have 9 points in three different Admiral Skills. The benefit for spending such a large…