T6 Ship Reviews

[CAPT Huckabee]

I figure why not start a thread for fleet members who have picked up a T6 ship to write down what they like/love or dislike/hate about the ships.  For $30 a pop it's quite an investment unless you have Zen saved up.  So at least with the help of us who have them, members looking to purchase one can have a better idea of what they might like. 

All T6 ships are welcomed, not just the Federation side.

 

[VADM Wulfric Richter CoS]

 

Ship: T6 Eclipse Intel Cruiser

 

The good: 

 

I find this ship to be a great fit for they way that I fly. It tanks very well and it's offensive capabilities are good. I use the ship's abilities near constantly and they have performed well for me. The subspace rupture I use to blind the enemy while I attack or evade and the structural integrity field siphon helps keep me whole while I do so. 

 

As far as maneuverability, this ship is a dream to fly. The original Perseus was a Sentinel class cruiser and far less nimble than the Eclipse class. While not as nimble as an escort, you could get away with fitting canons on the fore end of the ship. However, beams should be your first choice as the ship will be difficult to keep on target against swifter foes and fire at will works wonders for spam control. 

 

The ship's mastery bonuses are: +25 physical and kinetic damage resistance, +15% crit severity, +25 energy and radiation damage resistance, +10% hull hit points, and starship mastery grants the battle ready ability. This amounts to a +7.5 damage resistance rating and a +7.5% defense bonus for 15 seconds when using an engineering or intel bridge officer ability. 

 

The bad: 

 

The downside to the ship is that she only has three tactical consoles. The assault cruiser has four and this was immediately apparent when I engaged in combat. With the increase in difficulty for foes in the Delta Rising expansion, expect fights to last much longer if you are used to flying an assault cruiser. The other downside is that Cryptic didn't see fit to include a unique bridge for the ship. A pity, given the effort that went into the design of the exterior of the ship. Personally, I imagined a bridge that looked advanced enough to bear the next gen label bathed in a red glow like the KDF bridges. I was wrong.

 

Overall opinion:

 

The $30 dollar price tag is steep, but well worth the expenditure in my estimation. I have grown to love this ship as I have learned to fly it and that is saying something coming from a person who flew the Fleet assault cruiser. The combination of intel bridge officer abilities and this ship's native features make this vessel a force to be reckoned with once you have mastered it. Well worth the purchase in my opinion.

[Ryo Himura]

Knightnblu wrote:

Ship: T6 Eclipse Intel Cruiser   The good:    I find this ship to be a great fit for they way that I fly. It tanks very well and it's offensive capabilities are good. I use the ship's abilities near constantly and they have performed well for me. The subspace rupture I use to blind the enemy while I attack or evade and the structural integrity field siphon helps keep me whole while I do so.    As far as maneuverability, this ship is a dream to fly. The original Perseus was a Sentinel class cruiser and far less nimble than the Eclipse class. While not as nimble as an escort, you could get away with fitting canons on the fore end of the ship. However, beams should be your first choice as the ship will be difficult to keep on target against swifter foes and fire at will works wonders for spam control.    The ship's mastery bonuses are: +25 physical and kinetic damage resistance, +15% crit severity, +25 energy and radiation damage resistance, +10% hull hit points, and starship mastery grants the battle ready ability. This amounts to a +7.5 damage resistance rating and a +7.5% defense bonus for 15 seconds when using an engineering or intel bridge officer ability.    The bad:    The downside to the ship is that she only has three tactical consoles. The assault cruiser has four and this was immediately apparent when I engaged in combat. With the increase in difficulty for foes in the Delta Rising expansion, expect fights to last much longer if you are used to flying an assault cruiser. The other downside is that Cryptic didn't see fit to include a unique bridge for the ship. A pity, given the effort that went into the design of the exterior of the ship. Personally, I imagined a bridge that looked advanced enough to bear the next gen label bathed in a red glow like the KDF bridges. I was wrong.   Overall opinion:   The $30 dollar price tag is steep, but well worth the expenditure in my estimation. I have grown to love this ship as I have learned to fly it and that is saying something coming from a person who flew the Fleet assault cruiser. The combination of intel bridge officer abilities and this ship's native features make this vessel a force to be reckoned with once you have mastered it. Well worth the purchase in my opinion.

I agree with all of the above! I do miss my fleet assault cruiser after having flown the eclipse. I also intend to go back to my T5-U since it has more tac consoles. The only reason I flew this was to unlock the Starship Trait which having a Tech build, helps immensely as it never goes away.

[CAPT Huckabee]

Ship: Guardian Cruiser

Visuals:

If the Galaxy class and the Ambassador had a baby, it would be the beautiful Guardian.  At least I love the classic looks of the thing.  All textures look smooth and the weapon firing arcs are all smooth with no cut through on any part of the ship.  Your beams fire off from the saucer arrays, 2 ventral arrays, and arrays top and bottom of each nacelle.  You also get 2 different hull options along with a type 7 skin option.  The other hull provides mainly the option of different nacelles, a smoother neck, removal of the "baby" nacelles, and the option for a swept back style pylon section.  If you are like me and love the more traditional look of Star Trek ships, you won't be disappointed in having to look at it while you play.

 

Pros:

This thing is a tank, with me being a Tactical, while also putting out really good damage.  I also find it to be one of the most well rounded ships I've ever used.  Having the options with the Lt Engineer/Intel slot and a LCDR Science station opens up things.  With my build, my shields almost never come down.  Most the hull damage that I receive is bleed through and even then my hull has never dropped below 90% even in advanced queues.  I've also been putting points into the Pilot skill.  With my Attack Patterns, it grants me additional hull points which absorb most of the hits to my hull that I do receive.  The mastery trait I'm sure is worth it, but with my build and the Pilot benefits, it's never been stand out.  So I can't say how affective it is.  The console though is amazing.  When things get hairy in a pile of enemies, just pop it with a beam fire at will and things begin to melt while you continue to absorb almost all damage (75% incoming damage absorbed and put straight to your own weapons).  It last 20 seconds and with the new 2 minute cooldown, in my opinion, this is the best Zen-Store console out there.  But it's only for the Guardian.  They should of named this thing a battleship instead of a cruiser.

Cons:

It being a big ship like the Galaxy, it comes with the slower turn rate.  So it's not going to be as nimble as the other cruisers.  Though with the Omega Pattern, my boost to turn on Neutronium consoles, and a decent skill tree counters it to provide a decent turn rate making you feel like you're in a powerful battleship and not a slow moving whale.  The 3 Tac slots also don't carry quite the punch as the 4 slot cruisers.  However the ability to absorb stuff out weighs that in my opinion, as it can absorb more then the other cruisers.  I didn't notice a huge difference from the assault cruiser, but it's still noticed, and it might be due to the special console.  But some of the Vaadwur battles left me missing my face-melting cannons and my 4 slot Sovereign.

Conclusion:

I've bought a lot of ships I've regretted getting and wishing I could have the money back.  But the Guardian, like my Akira, I would buy again.  I've really enjoyed this ship.  If any one is wanting a good tanky battleship that does decent damage but takes tons of hits, it's worth the T6 upgrade.  If you already have a T5-U Fleet Assault cruiser or similar, the only thing you will really gain is the console and LCDR Sci bump.  While great, it's something to consider and possibly sticking with what you have and doing the upgrade.