[Blackout]

It’s a pretty good heal boat, but the odyssey and the recluse are better heal boats.

[Blackout]

Even with enhancements, it doesn’t stack up to the STF gear. It’s like every other set in the lobi store. There are nice individual pieces (consoles), but overall, don’t bother.

[Blackout]

I do find it interesting that the ships in this lockbox are godawful.

A carrier which “can load” DHCs with a turn rate of 6? An escort with a turn rate of 12(13)? What a waste of time. My EC balance is safe for the time being.

I looked that the consoles last night, and while the consoles are “okay” for use on a JHAS, they’re not the be all and end all like the Tipler+Manheim were. I might get a Jem HEC if it dips into the 50 million EC range for the console (It’s basically a 40% effective APO1 for the entire team, with a cooldown of 100 seconds), but it’s not a priority like the Tipler was for my Mobius (Miracle Worker III on a console vs. inferior APO1… Miracle Worker III by a long shot).

[Blackout]

I like the Jem Hadar Attack Ship the most because, quite frankly, it’s the best escort in the game.

It has the best BOFF layout for an escort, the best turn rate, 5 Tac Boff slots, and a great pivot point. The result, is that it has the highest PvP damage potential in the game, and the 3rd highest PvE damage potential (below only to the Breen Chel Grett due to it’s 8th weapon slot, and the Dominion Dreadnought Carrier because of its 2 hangar bays).

Among non-400 million EC lockbox ships, I like, surprise, the Chel Grett. It’s a PvE monster of a ship. Not great at PvP because of its low turn, but has a massive damage potential.

Among actual Federation starships, I’m still waiting for that Fleet HEC. The hangar gives it the power of a lockbox ship… and I like the Akira-class visual.

[Blackout]

The carrier’s an escort-carrier, so it’s not like the recluse at all. More like the Armitage – a slower, but tankier Armitage.

The Dreadnought is more like the Recluse – big, slow, and 2 hangar bays. Also, you can’t get a bug from this lockbox. If you already have a bug however, you can launch up to 2 bugs from the Dreadnought Carrier.

[Blackout]

Right on.

The Jem set is next to useless. The 7% polaron bonus is to base damage, so it’s about 1/4 of a console… which works out to just over a 1.2% damage boost.

1.2% damage vs all the advantages of the Borg set or MACO shields, and it’s a no contest.

BTW, the Mobius that I fly uses disruptors – and you’ve seen first hand how much pain they bring 😉

[Blackout]

Rainbow Beam:
– Jem Hadar Attack Ship,
– B’rel BoP, and
– Mobius

All in the same ISE.

What a waste of time.

[Blackout]

The Breen ship seems pretty darn awesome. Same damage potential as an escort, with HP of a cruiser and turn rate of a sci ship.

I don’t think it’s on par with the Jem Hadar Attack ship, but nothing really is.

[Blackout]

That STF Team would look like this:
– 1 Eng in a Cruiser with extend shields, eng team and maxed threat control and a +Threat console (so they can actually tank)
– 4 Escorts/carriers, built for max damage, all with cross heals in TSS2 and HE1, with a copy of gravity well on at least one.

.. or you can replace the cruiser with escort/carrier #5 because if people are cross healing, you should probably be okay.

I would like to do the Undine STF sometime (the name escapes me.. some kind of dome?)

[Blackout]

You need doffs for the romulan project to get Scorpion fighters.

It’s more or less a waste of time.

[Blackout]

I just bought the Steamrunner off steam, then just added the key to my sto account.

[Blackout]

Since the only important power levels for an escort are generally weapons and engines, I run this:

Weapons: 125
Shields: 44
Engines: 74
Aux: 44

[Blackout]

Here’s my build

Most of it is pretty self explanatory. The only notes I would add are the following:
– maxed flow capacitors, as they buff tetryon weapons and tetryon glider (from the 2pc Omega Bonus)
– Power insulators to combat power drain in pvp

http://startrek.44thfleet.com/index.php?view=image&format=raw&type=orig&id=270&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=27%5B/url%5D

[Blackout]

I’ll post mine this weekend then. It will probably need some explanation once I’ve posted it.

[Blackout]

Well, I don’t like that they got rid of the loot drops in STFs, but I’ll deal.

I DO like the ships though, both the Vesta and the Steamrunner. My impressions?

The Vesta
It appears that there’s a small bug with the hangar not reducing cooldowns from Aux powers, but this ship is pretty darn good:

Pros:
– Aux DHCs means that I can do damage without having to cycle through power settings as a Sci Officer
– The hangar (assuming it gets fixed) is a great addition
– The universal Boff slots mean I can build the way I want it to – basically an aux powered escort 😉
– The special consoles and powers are actually pretty useful, and I have no problem using them all (although the quantum focus phaser is a bit weak, I’m keeping it for the invincibility)

Cons
– Hull is made of paper, so you’ll need hull heals. invincibility helps in getting out of sticky situations, but…
– The ship is slow – especially since I’m used to escort impulse speeds.

but really, the star of the S7 ships thus far is the…

Steamrunner Blockade Escort Refit
Wow. This has my dream Boff layout, is only slightly slower than the bug (0.21 vs 0.22 impulse modifier), and has a 1.0 shield modifier with 34.5k hull. I may forgo opening my Bug (and reselling it for 250-300 million EC) because I think I’m flying this from this point on… and it was only $10 (now it’s $25)… AND it’s a universal account wide unlock!

Pros (This deserves a paragraph)
Best Boff layout I’ve ever seen for an escort. I’m going with this:
– Commander Tactical: TT1, CSV1, APO1, APO3
– Lt. Commander Tactical: TT1, CRF1, Dispersal Pattern Beta 2 (you can swap this for APB2 or CRF2 if you like, and swap the CRF1 accordingly)
– Lieutenant Engineering: EPTS1, RSP1
– Lieutenant Engineering: EPTS1, RSP1
– Ensign Science: HE1 or Sci Team 1 for PvP

Yup. That’s right, TWO copies of Reverse Shield Polarity. On an Escort. Add this to Brace for Impact (With SDO Doffs), you’re basically refilling your shields every 30 seconds…without giving up Hazard Emiiters/Sci Team (like on a bug), or a LtCom tac slot (like the Mobius) so you can maximize tac DPS powers. With a 1.0 shield mod and 34.5k hull (bug level toughness) this thing will tank better than any escort out there (except the Mobius if you have it setup to tank), while being able to maximize firepower. This layout is a min-maxer’s dream (and since I’m a min-maxer, this is my go to ship).

Cons
– An average 16 turn rate, so not as nimble as a Bug or the Defiant, but still faster than the Defiant.
– An average tac console layout with 4 (instead of 5)
– Really these aren’t weaknesses, they’re just that they aren’t innate advantages. If the ship had 5 tac consoles, it would be better than the bug – hands down.

[Author]

Posts