Ship Choice?

[petrnikola87]

So, i got rewarded a free ship for reaching a rank of Commander and i am wondering which ship is best for Klingon tactical officer?
NORGH Bird of prey, QORGH Raptor or K'T'INGA Battle Cruiser?

[cap-boulanger]

Originally posted by delta:

So I get a tier 5 ship at level 40...and then another one at level 61? Or is the one at level 61 able to be upgraded to T5-U, whereas the level 40 one can't?

Also, that guy above said you can't really do a proper science vessel build until tier 4, so does that mean I should necessarily pick a science vessel at that tier since it's my last chance to do so before tier 5?

You get a Tier 5 at level 40, yes.... and then there's the level 61 reward which is a different selection (you get a choice of certain T5 Zen ships). You are correct that the 40 is not upgradable and the 61 is.

I wouldn't say *necessarily* pick a sci ship at Tier 4, but that's when it first becomes possible to do a real sci build, yes - because of having the commander rank BOFF skill slot unlocked so that you have access to Gravity Well III.

If you want to go that path, Gravity Well is the big gun of a science build. It has three main variables, all of which you can address via your build:

- Control stat
- Exotic Particle Generator stat ("EPG")
- Auxiliary Power setting

Essentially, Control stat controls the radius over which Grav Well will pull ships in, and the strength of the pull (how fast they get sucked toward the center). Auxiliary Power and EPG stat both affect the amount of damage done to affected ships.

Both Control and EPG can be addressed with Science consoles, skills selections, traits, etcetera.

[cap-boulanger]

As for "is my free T5 ship going to be my endgame ship?"....

Probably not, but it may be for a while, if you are referring to the Level 61 (upgradable) ship.

There's three seasonal events per year where they give away a unique T6 ship (which would be superior), and one of those should come up within the next couple months. (Normally it's Summer (floats), Winter (December/early January), and the game's anniversary event which is held in February). If you've been doing the Campaign Event, you can earn one or more via that as well.

Beyond that, you can purchase many T5 or T6 ships from the Zen store, other ones via the Exchange (for EC), and still others from the Phoenix Prize Pack (if you get an Epic or Ultra Rare token; these are the seasonal event ships from like 2012-2018).

You can also earn up to 13 fleet ship modules via the reputation system (and these can also be bought via Zen store or Exchange), which can be used to buy Fleet T5 or Fleet T6 ships. (Which are slightly better than their Zen equivalents; note however that Fleet T6s do not earn starship traits, and there's a discount on the associated Fleet ship if you already own the similar Zen ship at the same tier; also the "free ship" you got for level 61 does not trigger this discount.)

[Maj_Cyric]

At level 40 you get a Rear Admiral T5 ship.. (can't become a T5-U)

At level 61 you'll get a Vice Admiral T5 ship 'coupin'.. (can be upgraded into a T5-U).. Which I believe is going to be limited to the Retrofit version of one of the three different ship classes.. which are Defiant, Galaxy, and Intrepid classes

Tactical Escort Retrofit -- https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Defiant_Tactical_Escort_Retrofit

Pretends to be a Raider class but is just an escort class, and comes with the cloaking console (is 1 of 2 from the Starfleet Maneuvering Protocol set (it sucks), and is also 1 of 3 of the Stealth Fighter set, that with all 3 gives your ship a battle cloak with a few other little buffs (it's not game changing and it eats 3 console slots but has a use, but just get a KDF or Space Elf ship that naturally has a Battle Cloak).. You'll need the Quad Phaser Cannon off the T4 Sao Paulo, and the Quantum Warhead Module off the T6 Valiant to complete the 3 piece set..


Galaxy Exploration Cruiser Retrofit --https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Galaxy_Exploration_Cruiser_Retrofit

Never used this ship myself.. but it has the ability "Weapon System Efficiency" -25% to weapon power cost when firing weapons (1 of 3 innate ship abilities/features I look for in the ships I use).. this one only has 1 Lt. tactical boff seat though.. Very Engineer'ish..


Long Range Science Vessel Retrofit -- https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Intrepid_Long_Range_Science_Vessel_Retrofit

Other then taking a few ships of this class for Admiralty, I know it's a Space Wizard'ish type of ship.. Very Sci'ish and that the Mirror Version looks better..

[Maj_Cyric]

Originally posted by cap-boulanger:

which can be used to buy Fleet T5 or Fleet T6 ships. (Which are slightly better than their Zen equivalents; note however that Fleet T6s do not earn starship traits, and there's a discount on the associated Fleet ship if you already own the similar Zen ship at the same tier; also the "free ship" you got for level 61 does not trigger this discount.)

Fleet versions also tend to not come with a console like the Zen version will.. Fleet versions have +1 console slot and slightly better base stats than their Zen version..

Which is why advice given out regarding DPS always has a bit about getting the T6 Arbiter/Kurak for the T6 Fleet Avenger/Fleet Mogh

[delta]

Huh, so I've sorta gone on a pause and haven't been playing any missions for a while. But I have been logging in to do the summer event on Risa and to send my duty officers on assignments, and from the latter I've gained about 7-8 levels just by doing nothing. At this rate I won't even have a chance to play a tier 4 ship before reaching tier 5....

[Kitsune Aoi]

Originally posted by delta:

Huh, so I've sorta gone on a pause and haven't been playing any missions for a while. But I have been logging in to do the summer event on Risa and to send my duty officers on assignments, and from the latter I've gained about 7-8 levels just by doing nothing. At this rate I won't even have a chance to play a tier 4 ship before reaching tier 5....

Be sure to do the Risia event dailies as well to get the "free" T6 Risian Luxury Cruiser for an account wide unlock as well. The Old T5-U version wasn't a bad ship and was still usable as a cruiser currently. So I expect that the T6 Version will be similar. Never really looked at the Bridge Officer layout of the ship yet to see how it is changed from the T5-U version.

[cap-boulanger]

The Risian Luxury Cruiser is a 4/4 cruiser, full set (4) of cruiser commands.

5E/3S/3T console layout.

BOFFs: Cmdr Eng, LtC Tac, Lt Sci, Ens Eng, LtC Uni/Temporal.

Turn rate: 10.
Inertia: 40.
Hull Modifier: 1.38.
Shield Modifier: 1.1.
Impulse Modifier: 0.16.

Power modifiers: +10 Shield, +10 Engine.

Stats-wise, in terms of how she flies.... the closest comparison I can see on the Starfleet ship chart is the Eclipse or the Paladin. The Arbiter, the Legendary Walker, and the Legendary Kelvin Constitution are fairly close as well.

As for comparison to the "free" ships... its maneuverability is slightly worse than the Intrepid lineup but not nearly as bad as the Galaxy.

The BOFF layout is a little difficult, in that it doesn't have enough Eng space to run an Aux2Bat build with dual Emergency Powers and still have room for Eng Team, unless you use that universal slot as a third engineer (contrary to pretty much everyone who is anyone who will be using it as a second tac unless they're Romulan). However if you aren't fond of Aux2Bat or are willing to sacrifice the second Emergency Power skill, you can manage.

It would certainly make a decent platform for a newer player with a limited stable of ships. The trait will most likely not be very useful (it's very sciencey, even more than the ship is really). If it's your first T6 (as the original poster implied it would be), it's quite workable, though you would eventually want to move on to getting a couple with the more popular traits (Arbiter/Kurak/Mogai... Narendra/Vor'ral... etc.)