LAST EDITED ON Feb-24-14 AT 03:14 AM (EST)
 
>>
>>Missile boats would be great if torps didn't have such annoying cool
>>downs. I'd recommend a single torp with spread 2 or 3, then focusing
>>on beams or cannons/turrets. Never mix cannons and beams. If you're
>>worried about keeping your aux power high, buy a warp core that dumps
>>weapon power into aux. Your gravity wells will hurt a LOT.
>
>Well, I have two fast-CD photon torps, a slow-but-powerful Breen
>Transphasic Cluster Torpedo, the tac-mode-only cannon, a 360 degree
>beam, mines, and a slow AOE backwards-facing torpedo. Fortunately,
>facing is not a problem, I turn fast. Especially in tac mode.
>
>The problem I'm facing here is I'm still a relatively fresh 50. I
>can't wave a magic wand and conjure up the weapons I need; some are
>still X and some are XI. At least all my tac consoles add to torpedo
>damage! I really need to find a bridge officer with a Commander-level
>minelaying skill too.

For what it's worth I think you'll still get more bang for your buck with either beams or cannons, couples with a single torpedo. But it's your ship, do what thou wilt!

>>
>>My fleet's pretty deep into ship crafting and for Feds, the best ship
>>in the game right now is the Avenger. It's a really solid ship. Run it
>>with seven beams and the Borg cutting beam you get from Omega
>>reputation. You'll destroy everything. Runners-up: Excelcior refit,
>>Vesta, and the Odyssey. If you're on a budget, you can buy a mirror
>>assault cruiser on the Exchange really cheaply and turn it into a
>>great My First Beamboat.
>
>I already have the Vesta. I thought you said science ships suck
>though.

I did! They (mostly) do! There are currently four sci ships worth your time:

- The Vesta allows you to run a Lt Commander tac officer, which gives you access to Attack Pattern Omega. It's also got a decent turn rate and the Vesta-class universal console does a VERY good amount of damage with your aux cranked up. Like, more damage than the Scimitar's damp squib of a thalaron pulse weapon*.
- The Dyson Science Destroyer dynasty of ships (seriously, Cryptic? 10 ships?) are pretty reasonable as cannon-based quasi-escorts, with the ability to switch up and lob a Gravity Well 3 for massive damage. I don't own them because I don't like the aesthetic, but to each their own.
- For Klingons, the Vo'Quv is a decent science ship based largely on its ability to vomit fighters and murderise a lot of things. It turns like a whale, though, so I wouldn't consider running any directional science abilities on it besides the possible exception of Gravity Well, which has a fairly wide angle on it. If I was using mine seriously, I'd be using power drain and possibly viral matrix to shut down enemies and buff myself. As it is, I mostly use it to shoot and farm.
- Finally, for the space 1%, apparently the Tholian Recluse is a very good ship in general - apparently the Tholian fighters it allows you to run each pack Attack Pattern Beta, which adds to to a lot of targets getting debuffed at once.

So... Science ships are OK? But they require a lot of time and effort to set up properly, and you're almost certain to have more survivability and be more useful in a cruiser or an escort. With all of that said though, the game's easy enough that it honestly doesn't matter how you play. I just like to work with some baseline ideas and layer my own stuff on top of that.

I think I'm taking away from Gryph's once-pristime screenshot thread, though - if anyone is interested in more ship/skillchat, I'm happy to start a new thread.

* "Hi! We're the Romulan Republic! We're very cross with the Evil Romulan Star Empire and to prove it we're providing our most decorated space heroes with weapons of mass destruction."