I'm running Covariant Mk III with Jam Sensors after the Open Beta. Was doing Resilient Mk II in the Open Beta and it didn't give me the kind of coverage I needed, especially against alpha strike. Jam Sensors is a "must have" ability for PvE and I can deal with a lot of ships with a Covariant array and very rarely have my shields drop below 50%.

Covariant... Covariant [Cap] if I can find one.

For me, it's about having the largest buffer possible to survive the longest. I found that the regen shields just aren't offering me the regeneration at the power levels I use to make giving up the initial buffer worthwhile.

In PvE, I can always take a sec to regen up if needed, and in PvP it gives me that few extra seconds to destroy my enemy if it's a 1v1 or even 1v2...and a dead enemy does no DPS.

Facing focused fire, shields don't matter a whit anyways, so it's a moot point.

this worked for me with a combination of one for and aft phaser turret mk ii i think it was in beta. works great still have one for phaser and torp bay works well nice setup for quick hit and runs witch the escort class is made for.