Learn about when the best time to throw the "X" in reverse, it can really help you get that shot lined up when they least expect it.

I'd love some logical updates to the Galaxy-X. I would love to captain her again, but it's just so badly done as it stands. I've dreamed of captaining a Galaxy class since I was a kid. When AGT came around, the retrofitted Enterprise took its place. Improving it would not be making it overpowered.

Boost the maneuverability - no where in any of the series where Galaxy class ships were shown were they indicated to be slow. Hell, I loved watching them in DS9 during the big fleet battles. They looked incredibly graceful.

Boost the Tactical stations. It's a dreadnought. While technically speaking the origins of the Dreadnoughts were retrofitted, older, vessels, they were retrofitted for combat. There's no reason why something refitted for combat would have such low tactical abilities.

Boost the Spinal Lance. On screen the thing was brutal. While that might be OP for the game, it could at least be changed to be a shield buster maybe. The two salvos from it could wipe out a shield sector entirely, opening up the ship for direct hull damage, versus having to wait and drop their shields before lumbering it around trying to get a shot in with the lance.

I'd be content with a Tier 6 Galaxy-X with the updates coming to the game. Otherwise, the ship performs well in the hands of the competent as it is.

Sure, it turns slow. There are ways to avert this glaring problem for the skilled player though (bait the enemy into tailgating at close range as ALL escorts like to do against us, pop a Hargh'Peng rear and eject warp plasma once they're at about 3km-4km, Anti Matter Spread, Evasive Maneuvers and Attack Pattern Alpha while pulling the ship into Reverse and turning. The enemy, even nimble escorts, will still be trying to turn out of EWP when you, at point blank, will have your entire forward arc on THEIR rear... unload, and usually a 1 shot if you got your buffs up).

Can't tell you how often that trick works in PvP. Had one idiot that fell for it not once, not twice... but 7 times consecutively as my fleet and I just laughed at them.

The lance as it is now IS a 1-shot for most lighter escorts and BoP's. Just need to be a Tac and have all your buffs ready (members of 12th Fleet will attest to watching me in PvP matches with them 1-shotting enemies just as they're about to move in to unload a volley, complaining because I "stole their kill"... lol).

Galaxy-X is NOT a ship for the feeble at skill. You will die horribly and earn the ship the despicable reputation it currently holds.

Pilot it well, and enemies knowing this reputation will pull in expecting an easy kill, and realize how sorely mistaken they truly were.

Must be some pretty bad Galaxy-X pilots out there (including me) if those tactics work. Cause I've yet to be beaten by a Galaxy-X in my Adv. Escort or Defiant-R.

That much said I think I've only destroyed one once solo, most of the time I will do a volley or two to soften them up for someone else and go elsewhere.

Edit: I should say beaten in a one on one encounter. Which can be a bit rare in pvp admittedly, but either way hasn't happened. I -do- know I've gotten blown away by a lance when another couple ships had already beaten me down to around 15%

I'm not apposed to something like this, however the lance I think should only be available while in cruiser mode, and the cloak only in Escort mode. My reasoning for this is thus. To use the Javelin, the Guramba needs to slow down and sacrifice its mobility and it in turn also straight lacks a cloak. Giving the Gal-X an option for high mobility I think is good, but allowing it to be highly mobile, cloak, and use the FUBAR gun is a recipe for OP.

I'd like to fight you then... or if you're REALLY ambitious, pick a fight with J J of 12th Fleet Tactical.

I can show you a few tricks you might not know about the Galaxy-X (the aforementioned tactic isn't often performed or timed properly... every other Galaxy-X captain I've found has, so far, messed it up). I've many more tricks up my sleeve, particularly against Escorts.

Most (very few exceptions) see the Galaxy-X for purchase, think "OOOHHH! OP LANCE AND CLOAK! I WIN!" ... They pilot it once or twice, and either realize that they can't operate the ship worth a damn and trash it because it actually takes skill, or use the lance as a crutch, and can't operate it without it as a "one trick pony".

I can kill enemies just fine without having to fire my lance or cloak once.

The Captain wins, not the ship.

Well you're right in your description - I know people who bought them exactly for that. I bought one because I've always wanted to Captain it That much said I gave up because I could never quite make it work right - but having done the Tac/Escort thing it's a pretty big transition and one I didn't make smoothly.

I've been playing around with an Assault Cruiser now and gotten a bit better hang of it, so I'd be more than happy to be schooled on how to use the Galaxy-X. I'd love to use it more.

I'm not worried about beating a Galaxy-X one on one with my Escort(s) though. They aren't worth the time to me. It's a long, drawn out fight that honestly I'd probably lose if only to attrition. As I've said I usually only do a volley or two on them and move on, either I get them at a weak moment or I soften them up for someone else. Or I accomplish nothing and fly on.

The only one I've beaten solo (and I said "I think" because he was attacking someone else. He had no damage of his own but he wasn't really firing at me), was when I was at very low hull percent and amped up on GDF with all of my other buffs running.

Like I said I've never otherwise gone toe to toe with one, and realistically if the captain knows what they are doing with it, (as you describe) then I'd probably lose, since the Galaxy-X is a formidable ship even without a good captain.


Edit: I think I'd still prefer the Lance as an opener rather than a finisher, but that is probably just as much due to my limited experience with it.

Edit 2!: Since we're talking about: You mention bringing your frontal weapons to bear - are you using cannons then? Using reverse is a given and a super useful thing to remember - but even then it just seems like they move too slow to be effective with cannons. Again I say that coming from using escorts extensively - naturally everything else feels slow.

It's not necessarily a waste. If you gain 1 degree per second, in 10 seconds you turn an extra 10 degrees. That could be the difference between getting into the narrow 45 degree dual cannon arc or not. The absolute value is small, but that doesn't mean it can't end up making a difference.

Lance as an opener is an interesting little feature as a Tactical Captain... there are ways to glitch the lance to fire 2 consecutive volleys of the weapon (4x bursts), but gotta be careful since the game still stacks the cooldown (you'll have some 7min or so CD).

Now THAT is a one shot. lol

I change tactics depending on my opponent. Using it as an opener, the enemy tends to expect it and has a bunch of buffs/devices/heals ready for it in advance.

Bait them to waste their cooldowns, pull a maneuver when they aren't expecting it to bring that nose around on a weakened point (perhaps baiting one opponent to fly by an ally, swap targets unexpectedly) THEN unload...

Doesn't have to be an opener or finisher.

Just has to hurt, and there are MANY tricks to maximize that hurt a whole hell of a lot.