Oddy Tac or Retrofit
 

Ok I am a Tac who just hit VA.... So I go with the ODdy Tac version or the Defiant retrofit? I'm not really leaning toward types of weapons... I really have everything. My BOs lean toward torps and healing. Which would be the better choice?

It all depends. Despite the name, the Tactical Odyssey is still very much an Engineering-focused ship. If you've played any of the other cruisers and prefer their high-durability, low maneuverability gameplay, then the Odyssey is a good fit. If you prefer Escort gameplay, then the Defiant is better, though it has only minor advantages over the Rear Admiral escorts, compared to the raw stat bonuses that the Odyssey has over the other T5 Cruisers.

I've never flown a Cruiser, but the high hull of the Oddy and the Cloak of the Retro narrowed it down for me...

Right now, I'm leaning toward the Oddy due to the Aquarius, the Advanced Slipstream, and high hull and crew, an the Retro only has a cloak not a battle cloak with a lower hull and crew.... But the turn rate also is scaring me..

If you've never flown Cruisers before, I'd recommend saving up the 120k dilithium and getting an Assault Cruiser before committing $25 to a ship you might not even like. The Assault Cruiser is a touch more nimble than the Odyssey and has slightly less hull and shields and one less Science console than the Tactical Odyssey (until they fix crew scaling and large-crew death rates, the crew size really doesn't matter), and you can't reconfigure the bridge officers in the Assault Cruiser like you can with the Odyssey. Cruiser play is very different from Escort play, dealing mostly with multiple-beam broadsides and unparalleled tanking ability.

...Then again, I don't remember if Tribble or Redshirt still have that console in Earth Spacedock where you can claim a free Ody for a test drive.

Hmmmm.... I can't really save DL cause of fleet items and stuff... And I don't have a Tribble/Redshirt account, so I couldn't try it. Let me check STOWiki for a sec to see the differences.

Second what Mandoknight said about trying out a Soverign first before plunking down $25. The Oddy's hull is only slightly better, and its main advantage is the universal slots more than anything else. Also if you do end up getting an Oddy, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything nice about the Aquarius' durability or intellect (like parking next to things as they explode). The only really nice thing would be having 4 tac consoles, but mostly I read people taking the Science version for the Sensor Analysis, then using all those science slots for universal consoles. Either that or the Operations version, activate the cheveron seperation, and get a maneuver boost. But really, try non-premium cruiser first, maybe speed-level an alt or something. You really don't want to spend a bunch of money, then find out the lack of speed, tac powers, and dual cannons, just drives you nuts.

I checked out the pages... Seems like the Retro is the better choice except one less aft weapon...

You can get on Tribble and Redshirt for free. Just go to the main website, then from the Support tab, select "Public Test." After you opt-in to testing, you can download Tribble and/or Redshirt and copy a character over.
That's normal. T5 Cruisers have 4/4 weapon loadouts, Escorts have 4/3. If you look at the Fleet Escort (or Advanced, whichever it is you're flying), the big difference with the Defiant Retro is its bridge officer layout, though it does gain the cloak console and a slight turning bonus.

Personally, I'm perfectly fine sticking with the Fleet Escort for my Tac, since the change is that minor.

Is this realy a question for you? I mean your "vote" here is basicly Escort or Crusier , 2 different ship types, ment to be played differently with maybe even different skill tree progress(spending skill points on different stuff) and even profession in some way(like tactical captains are best in escorts, and engineering captains are best in crusiers)The 2 ships represent different role ingame, Escorts are more DPS orianted, while crusiers are the closest you can have to a healer/tankt(Tank in PVE with threat controll) So unless you have 2 maxed out federation characters the question is already answered.
Anyway this is only my own (and possibly my friends) opinion, its not a guidline or whatever, its just seems the most logical .

You have to remember that Cruisers and Escorts are very different in tactics and capabilities. While it may seem like the Retro has one less weapon, that isn't actually true. The reason Cruisers have 4 weapons forward and 4 aft is because they cannot turn to face an enemy (except another cruiser), and so need the extra weapon aft merely to have a minimum of firepower on an enemy. An Escort, by comparison, can bring its forward weapons to bear much easier, much more often, and will spend most of the battle with the enemy in its forward arcs. The 3 weapons aft are quite sufficient for keeping an enemy under fire while the ship turns, and for things like mines.

Specific to your question though...the Odyssey is about the most un-manueverable ship in Starfleet, so be aware you will be mostly be flying in very, very wide and slow turns in combat, with every other ship running circles around you. The strength of the class is in flexibility in BOFFs (able to switch to different BOFF layouts for different missions), strong shields and hull, and the short-duration, high-damage Aquarius escort. Also a custom bridge. The downside is that you have to sacrifice significant Engineering ability in order to use any of your Tactical BOFFs beyond a LT. ability, and the aforementioned extremely low speed and turning rate.

The Defiant Retrofit's strengths are its ease of manuevering, allowing the forward weapons to be used more often and to control the battle better, the Cloak (which gives a bonus to your first attack as well as the option to stealth), and the ability to use Dual Heavy Cannon (important advantage this!). Also, this ship offers more Tactical BOFF abilities and more Tactical console slots. The downside is the lower Hull points and few Engineering abilities (though the three Engineering console slots do allow for toughening the ship somewhat). Also, you will pay 400 c-points less, which you may want to use for other things.

And, I would not buy the Assault Cruiser to see how you would like the Odyssey. Instead, get the Exploration Cruiser (Galaxy class) if you want to experience what driving an Odyssey is like. True, it has one less aft weapon, but I believe the manuevering is what you will have the most trouble adjusting to, and the Exploration cruiser both mimics the Odyssey better and costs less.

Ultimately, fly what you want to fly. However, I would advise you to only get the Odyssey if you know you will be able to accept its flight characteristics and limitations.