New 50 looking for Tier 5 Ship advice.

[Stefanozz]

First of all Hello to all of the 106th Fleet!
This is my first few days being a part of this Fleet, and my first few weeks playing STO. I am very excited to be a part of both this fleet and the game. Being a first post this will be hefty.. I hope you bear with me.

I was hoping I could get some advice from you Veterans on what ship you think would be best. I also have a few questions I will add at the bottom. I am a Tactical player and have enjoyed the Escort styled play so far and would like to upgrade from my Tier 4 Patrol Escort up to something a little more beefy. I have done some research on what ships are out there and have an opinion on what I think would be best, but it would be an inexperienced guess at best. I made a chart of the ships I liked and highlighted the parts that stuck out to me. I also added my current ship just for comparision.



It seems for raw power I would go with the Andorian Kumari Escort. With 5 Front weapons and 5 tactical consoles, can any ship in the galaxy put out more damage? (I am Andorian, so this seems "logical" heh) I do see that it would be more fragile than the other choices.

Questions arise with these various ships... Most are hard to obtain for one reason or another. I won't have fleet shipyard access for 25 more days, and a few are lockbox drop only, requiring patience or lots of cash, or both really? Andorian Kumari Escort and the Blockade Runner Escort Retrofit are the only easy-to-obtain ones listed (using a credit card).

Questions:
1. Are there any great tactical ships I have overlooked?
2. What does the Crew Count matter?
3. Without the word Escort, the ship cannot equip DHC's correct?
3. Are you still reading this far down? If so I thank you!

- Sterano

PS Thank you for allowing me to be part of your Fleet. I am grateful and am looking forward to contributing asap.

[Jeremy of the 106th]

The Science version of the andorian escort is your best bet. You may slightly lose some offensive, but it makes up for it with its healing capabilities. I prefer the Bug (Jem Attack Ship). Its two Lt. Universals make it highly configurable. But as you said, you need a big pocket book for either.

If you can hold out for fleet ships, I would go with one of them. If you like escorts, all three of the fleet ships are worth their price I believe (Defiant, Patrol and Advanced <if that's still what they are called>).

Really though, what are you looking to do with your ship? PvE, PvP, straight damage and let someone else try to heal you, high damage and a little self-sustaining healing??? With all the advancements the game has made in recent months, a tac works really well in all ships. It really comes down to play style (The questions I asked above).

[Stefanozz]

Thanks for the reply.

Would the Science version of the Andorian Escort support Cannons? (that seems to be something most sites don't answer about ships)

I will likely end up leaning towards PVE but I do tend to do PVP also.

[Stefanozz]

For anyone looking to compare ships, this spreadsheet is exhaustive and absolutely awesome. It seems to be updated often and most recently 6/4/2014.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amf9g7VGIx9JdDNiODBvNFZxYmZHVF9HVG9JN0RRV0E#gid=0

Edit:
And after some time and consideration.. I am leaning towards getting a Patrol Escort Refit and upgrading it to the Fleet Patrol Escort Refit provided I get through my probation unscathed.

Any advice is gladly accepted still.