I'm a tactical trying to decide my next c-store ship purchase and subsequently upgrade to the fleet version. Which version can be minmaxed into doing the most dps? I'm counting fighters in the HEC, but ignoring MVAE pets as I dont have slot space for that console.

Neither will do as much damage as the Sabre refit at Shipyard T1 soley due to the fact the 2 you are chooseing between only have 1 Lt Com tac slot, the single best slot for damage in this game.

Big problem with the FER: No pre-requisite account unlock ship. And I'm sure 5 tac consoles (FAE) or 4 consoles + advanced fighters (FHEC) can outdo that ship.

Not to mention its much squishier, for these 2 ships can mount 3 shield gens and have higher shield mods and cap.

The FER is not the one being compared here, or else I'd have considered the FTER already.

So, just by restricting to these 2, which one can be minmaxed better?

Armitage > MVAE if you're a Tac. Use fleet photon launchers, use photon consoles, and the consoles will stack with the TPDS. You absolutely cannot go wrong using an Armitage, and if you re-roll an alt, you can put any character in it using a garbage fit and easily pull 5k DPS using exchange gear.

I have and like both, but out of the two id go with the Armitage.

The extra help you get with the fighters/shuttles far exceeds the MVAM, and you also do not lose a console slot to boot!

The only thing I'll say about the Armitage is that the fighters can sometimes be a bit unwieldy and start going off attacking things (like transwarp gates) which draws unnecessary aggro and results in some deaths.

The same happens with the MVAM parts, though with the Armitage you can at least somewhat control them via the commands (when they work of course)

Thanks for the input, now if only there is consensus about how to run the damn thing. 2 photons 2 DHCs, or 3DHCs +1quantum, or 3DHCs +1TCB, or just 4DHCs and leave the 3rd ensign blank?

(Though I could fill it with a TT1 to fill in the gap if I fire off a TT ability while getting timewarped. Except does timewarp double the system cooldown as well?)