Sci oddy is a total ripoff without subsystem targeting. However, that said....

The tactical and ops "pets" are totally lame ducks. No reason to ever use those consoles. Same could be said of the "worker bees" on the sci, but basically that means look at the console layout and never use the special consoles.

Of the lot, that means the best overall cruiser tank was the Sci oddy. Those sci consoles allow universal consoles or field generators (4 of them!) to give you a boost.

Looking at it strictly from a cruiser standpoint, power and tank capabilities. Power to subsystems in eng consoles, or armor or flow cap, whatever floats your boat, and shield modifiers in the sci slots.

No cruiser is going to win a DPS contest on consoles alone. So those tac consoles don't break the deal for me.


Overall, is it worth it? No. If you bought it without knowing better will you be able to use it well? Yes. Are those boffs truly universal? No, not really.

I tried using it as a sci setup. I put that LtCDR as a sci slot and one of my characters was levelling up entirely on sci ships. It was a nightmare. Totally incapable of using the sci skills after the initial head-on alpha strike. Further, it cut significantly into your self-healing skills with only 3 eng skills. My dps dropped horrifically. Doing basic storyline missions was taking ages. Fights were prolonged and painful. So I switched it to an eng cruiser setup (LtCDR eng, ENS tac). It was night and day, what I could do. Just forgetting trying to aim at a target and focusing to EPTW and EPTS chains using both BO and FAW allowed me to dispatch targets far faster than my "sci" attempt.

Never run the oddy as a sci. It's an absolute joke.

As far as running that LtCDR as a TAC? I think you'll find there's only so much you can do. IMO torp skills are rather wasted due to the slug-like turn rate (4x RCS don't even help), so torps are also wasted. That means you're stuck with beams for max coverage as targets fly around you. That means FAW, BO, and TT1, in most cases. If you run that LtCDR as a TAC you can add APB or something else, but really it's a minor addition, and you're sacrificing the biggest benefit this cruiser has: The Eng CMDR/LtCDR combination. Chaining EPTSx2 and EPTWx2 keeps you in the fight and keeps you fighting back harder and longer.

IMO adding more TAC slots doesn't make the ship more "assault" or anything. It's like adding that extra sci ENS on some escorts doesn't make them any more "sci".

The oddy is a cruiser. It is best as an ENG cruiser. That is really the only light it should be seen in. With that in mind, it's not THAT much better than the free Assault Cruiser. More hull, yes. Another console, yes. But it's a minor upgrade for such a heavy price ($20.00).


Buyer beware.