Looking at the stats and the BO layout which should perform better?

Excel is better. It has the better turn rate...access to LtCmder tac abilities and 4 tac consoles which means more damage. The Ambassador gets the Lt Uni, which is kind of nice and access to LtCmder sci abilities which is good if you wanna use those. Unfortunately, It got its tenth console shoved into engineering which is a waste. Had got an extra tac or even sci console it would be harder to judge.

?Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tactical, 1 Ensign Tactical, 1 Commander Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Commander Science, 1 Lieutenant Universal
?Console Modifications: 3 Tactical, 4 Engineering, 3 Science


It did get an extra sci console

I stand corrected. I was leaving for work when I quickly skimmed the blog post. Now it's a little harder to say. I think I'm still leaning Excel because of the 4 tac consoles, LtCmd tac spot and superior maneuverability. Still the Fleet Ambassador is a good ship and I can see the LtCmd sci being useful.

Ambassador can be made to really great support cruiser, or kirking ship.

For 1 degree of separation, the use of the word superior seems like hyperbole.

I think the Ambassador is the better ship overall. Which is a damn shame.

The Fleet Excelsior is better as a tac cruiser... it can mount single cannons and actually be effective in using them.

The Fleet Ambassador is more towards a sci cruiser with that universal Lt. BOFF seat... set her up right and she'll always take you home (A paraphrase from Dr. McCoy during Encounter at Farpoint).

My thinking is, the Fleet Ambassador can become either more tac/sci/eng oriented depending on the situation. So it's more versatile than the Fleet Galaxy Class... ugh. Frak...

But DPS belongs to the Fleet Excelsior still.

Possible Fleet Ambassador builds might include:
-A tac oriented beam boat (because 2 Lt. tac BOFF seats means BO2 and HYT 2 are an option along with TorpSpread 2 and BFAW 2)
-A sci oriented cruiser that turns better than a Star Cruiser
-A Fleet version of the regular Ambassador class (return that Lt. BOFF seat to engineering)

Remember that during the Battle of Wolf 359 as shown in DS9's pilot 'Emissary', the Excelsior Class USS Melbourne was the first ship that the Borg Cube engaged and then afterwards the Ambassador Class USS Yamaguchi with the USS Saratoga were right behind it. A lot of good that did for either ship...

But that's only because they didn't have any Sovereigns, Thunderchilds, Steamrunners, Oddysseys, or Defiants to engage the Borg with.

They do now though.

I think the Fleet Ambassador will be slightly behind the Fleet Excelsior in the DPS department.
It realy depends on the build though. Potentialy 5 tactical abilities combined with high end Engineering Capabilities AND a Lt-Commander science is surely quite powerfull.
Science powers especialy those that either do damage or increase your damage potential by reducing their defence can do alot.
Be it Feedback Pulse or Tykens-Rift or Gravity Well all those are Force Multipliers. Or Photonic Officer wich comes in handy when you also have tactical initiatice as a tactical captain, as both reduce the cooldown for boff powers.
Its an interesting Ship, worth checking out in detail. Ill definitly buy it.

Eddy