This years Summer Event on Risa kicked off yesterday amongst the angst of “Dude, Where’s my 10K Channel?“, and while they were sorting that mess out and between my multiple computer crashes (not game related) – I had time to check out the new T6 Ferengi ‘Nandi’ Warship.

How did I get one so soon?  Lobi.  Lots and lots of Lobi. (1055 to be exact*).

As promotional ships go, most get dropped by the wayside beyond the initial thrill of trying something different.  Unlike previous free ships, the Nandi stands out as one of the best free ships to ever be offered in the game.  Until the release of this ship, I was hard pressed to to say any of the new ships eclipsed the versatility of the Chel Grett (T5 and T5-U versions offered during the Winter Events starting several years ago).  I liked both the Sarr Thein Carrier and the Samsar, but neither ship warranted game time after grinding out the ship mastery abilities.  The Chel I drag out at least once a month for fun.

Like the Chel, the Nadi is very much a destroyer class vessel.  All the firepower of a cruiser packed inside a thinner hull that has a little extra gas in the engine department.

Back in the day the Ferengi D’Kora Marauder was one of the first specialty lockbox ships offered in the game.  It was a surprisingly tough cruiser and much sought after for its added amenities:

• fully functional Dabo table with holographic Leeta,
• a commodity trader offering ‘stuff’ at better than replicator pricing,
• and a full function Bank, Exchange and Mail terminal.

The good news is that the Nandi is no different offering all of these amenities as part of its free offering.  This is pretty darn cool.   As a new player this ship offers the best in offensive capability, T6 pilot functionality, it’s science focused (Gravity Well?) and it’s travelling starbase for all ofthe features a new player could ever want.  I was always jealous of D’Kora owners and it was the one ship I always dreamt of buying.

The Nandi comes with the D’Kora bridge, although on closer inspection is seems much smaller than the Marauder’s original size (I could be wrong).

Ship Design

There’s something wrong with this design.  Yes, it has the Ferengi ass (huge, glowing white) and the curvy winglets.  But it’s hard NOT to imagine this ship flying backwards, or at the very least rotating the winglets 180 degrees.  Beyond this discrepancy the ship actually looks quite cool.

I keep thinking it’s a Black Widow spider.

At the moment I’m not taking advantage of the Console – Universal – Metaphasic Solar Capacitor.   I always like to try the sets as the bonus abilities can sometimes be a lot of fun, but with not owning the D’Kora, running out of ship storage space (*cough* *cough*), and the current state of lag in the game – adding another untested power seems foolish.

Update: Just parsed a CCA run, 15K+

Build

Ok, we all know my builds are a bit dodgy.  In this case I carried over my Guardian Cruiser build which allows me to compete in Elite missions without fear of holding the group back.

Back in the day when I ran my Chel Gret I focused my build on DHC’s forward with a single Dual Beam weapon. That build was effective in all STF’s with the added bonus of being able to drop a Gravity Well.  Fast forward three years and the Nandi also support cannons, but my playing style firmly embraces the FAW doctrine.

My first impression was that this was not a ship I’d tank with; its hull seemed particularly weak (53K vs the Nandi’s 48.8K at level 60). That turned out to be more playstyle than build.  I’m starting to realize the value of the universal console.  Playing it more like a beamscort, the Nadi was very survivable and a lot of fun.

I’m sure a better pilot and build could make this a devastating weapon.

Six BOFF seats make this seem unusual, and I suspect the shape of ships to come.  You still only get 13 abilities with a heavy emphasis on Science.  The Lt. Commander seat is a hybrid Pilot seat which in the case of this build I have not used.  The combination of a GW + DRB (Destabilizing Resonance Beam) followed by TS3 gives me a warm feeling 😉

Borg Red Alerts presented no issue, ISA was a lot of fun, and GGE while difficult proved to be no tougher than in my Sheshar or Guardian Cruiser.

Ship Mastery – Greedy Emitters

It will take me most of the weekend to work up to the ship mastery ability: After achieving level 5 in the Ferengi Warship’s starship mastery, you will unlock the Greedy Emitters trait. 
While this trait is slotted using the Energy Siphon, Tachyon Beam, or Tyken’s Rift Science Bridge Officer Abilities gives a buff which grants immunity to energy drain, reduces energy weapons power usage, and increases your subsystem power levels for 10 seconds. This buff may be triggered once every 30 seconds.

It looks like stacking this with the Command Ship ability, Improved Tachyon Beams, this ship could prove to be good shield stripper.  I’ll let you know how that works out.

Summary

So is this a ship I’d grind for?  Hell yeah.  Having your own Exchange and Bank access in your back pocket is priceless.  If you’re a new or returning player, take the time to visit Risa and add this to your collection.

What about getting the ship for other alts?  The new system worked for me without difficulty.  I will definitely grabbing one of these ships for each alt on my account.

*why pay for something that you can get free?  I suck at the flying game.  And I’m lazy.