Now for some serious ship love. Oh baby…
Back when fleet ships were first introduced, my must-have fleet variant was the Armitage class. In Star Trek Online you have a wide selection of ships types, and back then the escort-class was all the rage. The game carried the moniker ‘Escorts Online’ and I promise you it had nothing to do with with dating opportunities.
The Armitage was one of the first ships I paid ‘real money’ for, primarily due to it’s Photon Torpedo Point Defense System console. My thinking back then was if it worked as well as the Point Defense Console, it would be a devastating combination. It was for someone who that 2.5K was something to be proud of 😉 Add to the belief at that time that a AP DHC build was ‘the only build’ you should consider as a Federation captain (Klingon’s had Elite Fleet Disrupters – bastards!), this ship could pack a serious punch with no less than three tac seats. In a world where the Bug was top dog, this was a close second.
Oh, and it’s the ONLY ship I bought another ‘skin for’. Thunderchilde 😉 If you’re a sci-fi geek, you’ll know the origins of that name.
It was the first ship I had ever put together a purpose-build for. The first ship I learned to drop all of the gimickey consoles from, and yes the first ship that I broke 10K with. Running Elite STF’s with Rain and Sharpe – you’ll remember Sharpe powered dilithium runs – this was the ship to beat. Sharpe was a bit of an arrogant twat, but man could run a dilithium farming series with military precision. While I learned to love this ship I ground my way to Elite Scorpions through LoR, finished my OMEGA rep for those oh-so-sweet torpedoes (the best at the time), I struggled in a very small fleet to get to the tier necessary to purchase the ship.
I might add my first invite to the first DPS league was from Porch, while I flew my Armitage 😉
Along the way other ships became slightly better. And the thought of buying the fleet version was left farther behind. Even though I would move onto the MVAE and Chel Grett, I’d always come back to my first true love every so often.
Two fleets later, I finally have the resources to get a fleet ship. I struggled with the decision and finally the MVAE won out (sans the consoles of course). Over the years money was no longer an issue, and fleet ship variants popped up on all of my alts. But I never broke down and bought the fleet version of the Heavy Escort Carrier.
It’s still on all of my Federation alts. Everyone had their time flying this beast.
I don’t spend this much time talking about other ships for good reason.
Fast forward a fair bit of time, and the ‘people who shall not be named’ leaked that there was in fact a T6 Armitage in the works. Better yet it’s part of a 3-faction set of HEC’s, and this version was worked on by Thomas @Cryptic_TtC Marrone and Hector Ortiz.
So when it became official this past week – I was actually excited about a new ship and I haven’t even seen the stats. If this ship comes with a universal/pilot seat AND pilot-ship capabilities I think I might have a geekgasm. In truth though it will likely not have pilot-ship capabilities, but I certainly am hoping for some sort of interesting mix of intel/command seating.
From Trendy’s post:
We’re excited to announce three new Tier 6 Heavy Escort Carrier starships. The first is an enhanced version of the Tier 5 Armitage Heavy Escort Carrier, called the Alita Class Heavy Escort Carrier [T6]. This starship is available at Vice Admiral rank. The second is an all new Klingon Raptor called the Qa’Tel Flight Deck Raptor [T6]. Much like the Alita Class, it features everything you’d expect from a Klingon Raptor and it includes a single hangar bay and is available at Lieutenant General rank. Lastly we have the Jhu’ael Tactical Carrier Warbird [T6]. This starship is an upgraded version of the Tier 5 Ar’kif Tactical Carrier Warbird Retrofit and is available to Vice Admiral Romulan captains. Like our previous cross faction bundles, all three of these new ships have been given a 2410 visual update.
Maybe I’m getting a little too excited. There will most definitely be a Fleet variant, but the added punch of factions-specific version means this is a hell-yeah purchase for my collection. And for the first time in over a year I am actually considering cannons (yeah, yeah I will most likely drop back to a beamscort build shortly thereafter).
The abilities and console sound interesting.
All three of these new Tier 6 starships come equipped with a Destabilized Tachyon Emitters universal console. When activated, this console will emit a devastating burst of tachyon radiation that will deal instant heavy shield damage to foes with 5km. Affected foes will also suffer shield damage over time and have their shield hardness reduced for a short time.
In addition, each of these starships can unlock the Coordinated Assault starship trait by achieving level 5 in their Starship Mastery. While this starship trait is slotted and you activate Beam: Overload I, II or III you will allow your pets to use Beam: Overload I. Using Cannon: Rapid Fire I, II or III will allow your pets to use Cannon: Rapid Fire I. NOTE: Your pets must have weapons that are compatible with these attack upgrades in order to benefit from this starship trait.
I can’t see myself adding back the torpedo console, but we will have to wait and see what the game designers have in store for us. Coordinated Assault sounds cool. Destabilized Tachyon Emitters – hmmm I wonder if there’s synergy with Improved Tachyon Pulse.
And with that, I am eagerly awaiting Trendy’s next post on the subject.
The Lootcritter
Conversations with the Lootcritter 
I have always loved the Akira hull and most of her variants. It will be interesting to see how she mixes and matches between old and new components. I’m particularly glad to see the pack is cross-factional since I have alts in every fleet and faction. I rarely buy ships, and I’ve never bought one of same-faction three-variant bundles like the Vesta. They feel like a money grab for small variations and console sets. I wonder if people equip all three and switch between them or just mothball the other two.
In that vein, I wish they’d do a T6 update to the Dyson destroyers: a single ship for each faction that includes all the skins of the older versions. That hope and the bundle money-grab feel prevent me from buying any of the current ones. I’d like to have a solid science option for each faction, and I like the Dyson aesthetic on the KDF and Romulan versions, and I am sure TtC could make a new Fed version that I like.
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The Akira and its refit alwasy struck me as nice ships, but never enough for me to pilot past the Fed commander (20-30) levels. I’m happy for the attention the Akira is getting, even a bit “Wow”ed, and I know one of my friends will love taking her out for a spin. But the HEC and me, for some reason, never ‘clicked’ together.
Not so with the Ar’kif. When it came out, I quickly got her, grabbed on the Ar’kala costume and probably for the next year mostly flew her. It was a transition from T’varo to Ar’kif retrofit, and I found I could stand up to a lot more and brawl with other vessels that much more, along with still being very swift, looking iconically Romulan, being this fierce-looking battlecloaking menace, and also having this glow of “I’m in a genuine Republic-made ship now”.
Honestly, I kind of think Tiaru Jarok ought to have had an Ar’Kala retrofit to represent the Republic as a flagship; the Scimitar – as fearsome as it is – never symbolized the same for me. i see it as a necessary evil now (and think the Vastam/Deihu would’ve been the perflect Republic flagship now – if size was a concern).
I can’t wait to get my hands on the Jhu’ael! I’m just not sure what build I will use with it. Supremacy works with Fire at Will/Scatter Volley, but the trait is for Beam Overload/Rapid Fire.
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Awww so much Nostalgia!
The Armitage was the first ship i purchased from the Zstore, and the FHEC was the 2nd Fleet ship that i purchased.
That FHEC took me to 10k and was the first ship i cracked 20k with, back in the day.
My only regret is that I wont be able to purchase this new T6 ship til the end of next month *sniff*. BRB going to cuddle with my Olaen.
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In the end, I purchased only the Jhu’ael. In LC’s other article, I thought the console layout of the Alita was too limiting, and actually a Chimera/Manticore kit-bash is already so easy on my eyes. The Qa’Tel has nice bridge stations, but between my Fleet K’t’inga and Peghqu’/Duvqu’ kitbash (which is always changing because I love both) fulfill my need of deadly Klingon sexiness.
I hated outleveling the Ar’kif which was one of my favorite warbirds, but the bridge stations on the retrofit seemed off to me. I like Daenios/Dhael as starships, but particularly the tail in the back ruins the aesthetic for me.
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