I did a search on the forums but my search-fu must be weak. I know the conventional wisdom is to use DCs and DHCs on escorts. However, is the beam boat idea effective on an Advanced? Trying to go for a canon build for my Alt's Prometheus. Any insight would be appreciated.

ive tried it if you get it right you can be an spammers worst night mare but thats about it you it lacks hull streanth compaired to dps.......i never used beam overlaod 3 on it though or hy3 both could of changed the out come but because of the turn rate there was always beams hitting the target

Ive used Beam Boat prometheus a lot mainly because i am a Canon nazi.
But its very effective too, as people don't seem to quite know how to fight you, since they expect all escorts to have their firepower limited to a narrow forward arc.

The greatest advantage with a Beam Escort is that your maneuvrabe enough to constantly keep your broadside on target at nearly all times, unlike large lumbering cruisers that can be outmaneuvered.
And Beam Overload III combined with Torpedo High Yield III is pretty devestating.

Beam Boat escorts are more effective for Engineers though IMO, as they have powers that increase survivability as well as a few powers that help diminish the energy drain from weapons when firing.

Pretty much the only reason to use beams in MVAM is for spam management. I switched to beams since most other members in my fleet can't handle carrier spam in PvP. I did notice a small damage drop compared to using DHCs, but not by much. Perhaps the nicest benefit is you can get alot of damage from broadsides, so you aren't always trying to line up the target for your cannons.

If you PvP using MVAM with beams and FAW, the enemy will love using Scramble Sensors on you.

i bet that was my biggest problem wast that the beam boat was on a tac oficer..... definetly think you need to up the surviavability

Yeah, I'm a sci in an MVAM. I've got the right gear to tank a single alpha strike. Add in Science Fleet and I can tank two. Once it wears off, however, I need good support healing to survive a team attack.

So the damage output wouldn't be an issue then? Just the survivability? Would this be proficient for STFs as an off healer or CC?

You CAN... But if you do you are purposefully gimping your overall damage output. The question is: Why use beams and lose all that DPS? Also it is hard to support the power drain of beams and while it can be gotten around it just adds more to the question of why to bother with such a build.

As silly as it is? I'm a canon Nazi when it comes to ships. Seeing cannons on a Prometheus drives me bat *****. Same reason I run 3 DCs on my Defiant, with arrays in the back when I'm running dailies. Turrets and DHCs etc just doesn't look right to me.

a beam array escort, fleet escort is my choice with them, is the best dueler in game, not counting 6 pang intrepids. but its absolutely worthless in a fleet battle like an arena, your basically dead weight there.