So I was toying with the idea in my head of getting a dreadnought for my tactical captain. The idea being instead of escort hit-and-run tactics, go with a hit-and-keep-hitting strategy. Come in cloaked, whack a carrier with the lance followed by a high yield torpedo salvo, then proceed to use my beams like a normal cruiser. What I don't have are specifics, consoles, bridge officer skills, etc.

There are a few threads about this already. How to build a cruiser and the dragon build. Both are very helpful.

Yeah, whacking a carrier with the lance would be kind of a waste of the lance as an attack strategy. Until your opponent's shields are down it's an effectively useless weapon, doing less damage than a high yield torpedo.

So the lance isn't effective against shields?

The Lance is effective against shields but more effective vs Hull. By waiting you can kill most normal enemies in 1 shot.

I'm talking red alert flagships here.