I'm going to buy a Vesta, but I don't have enough money to buy the whole set, so which Vesta would be the best for a Tac Captian?

I believe that the line has a Strategic option. I would assume it's that one.

But, I have heard many other players recomend the other types to Tac captians.
I'll narrow it down a little.

What type does ESTFs and PvP the best?

Although I'm not entirely sure of the name of it. The one I have found best suited all across the board has the following console slot configuration.

3 Engineering
4 Science
3 Tactical

Yesh, there is a 4 tac slot version but you lose an Engineering slot for it. Personally, 2x Neutronium Alloy and an SIF Generator make it a lot less squishy in my opinion.

this is the best ship,

http://www.stowiki.org/Multi-Mission...sance_Explorer

but try use an escort first or a cruiser

Yeah, the Tactical Vesta Class is fun. I'm flying it on my Joined Trill Engineer and I can tank in it while keeping up the power levels and such...

If you have spec-ed in to Particle Generators the Tac Vesta (Aventine Class) is a good choice for a tactical captain since the personal skills (Attack Pattern Alpha, Fire on my Mark, Go Down Fighting) sync up well with the Quantum Field Focused Phaser.

If you can hold a target the QFFP can be an unholy beam of doom.

I use Anti-Proton weapons... so I removed that QFFP. My GW3 is pretty epic though.

My main is a Tac and I fly the tactical version. I have the 3-pack so my console layout is a bit wonky (I use all three consoles, plus the steamrunner console for extra tanking).

But if I could only choose one, I'd choose the tactical one. The extra tac console slot just gives it that much more teeth.

It really depends on what you want to do, but if you are a tac captain, I'm going to assume you dont mind the extra dps, and to get the bigger dps bang for you buck out of all three of them, I'd go with the tactical.

The Vesta 3-pack contains 3 ships with unique console setups, 3 special abilities, and 2 useful set abilities, and 3 distinct, unique skins, which makes it a better raw value proposition than the Odyssey 3-pack (which has no unique skins and a dumpy set ability for equipping the 3 consoles.

But I digress. If you had only one to pick, the money seems to be on the Tactical version, since Tacs are in the best position to take advantage of the Aux cannons and tac slots for having good DPS, while the bridge setup allows for a good number of exotic science powers.

That said, I prefer the looks of the Engineering Vesta (RAdemaker) but ultimately prefer the Science Vesta (Vesta class), because the Fermion console (AOE Shield/Hull heal) is a dang lifesaver in pickup fleet actions, especially combined with the Steamrunner console for even more shield resilience. Unless you've got decent spec in Particle Generators, you simply won't get as much out of the Quantum Phaser from the Tac vesta. Also the Eng Vesta's multidimensional console is a bit too situational for my taste, and has the unfortunate tendency to push enemies out of my Gravity Wells or into the Khitomer portal.

Lastly, since the Vesta is good at a lot of things but can't quite match the raw damage or support abilities of a specialized ship like an Escort, a Bug, Cruiser or Carrier, it may be in your best interest to pick the ship which guarantees a different sort of play style. Since I fly escorts most of the time, a Vesta allowed me to play at science while not completely abandoning my escort tactics. That'll probably change if I ever cough up money for an Atrox or Recluse though