[Kantazo]

When I did this mission I got this Obelisk carrier, I flew the one during the mission and found it to be very slow and cumbersome to flight, is this a good ship to have or just a collector type item?

[Dark]

Well, it's a carrier - so they're going to be slow. The Obelisk is really, really tanky. The Advanced Obelisk (800 Lobi) is one of the toughest ships in the game (if not the toughest), and until Fleet Spires reach Tier 2 of Operations (or is it Research?), the Obelisk is the only carrier that can carry Advanced Swarmers.

Slap on 4 Beam Arrays, the Kinetic Cutting Beam, and the Omni-Directional Beam Array and you won't worry too much about firing arcs, especially with two hangers of Advanced Swarmers. Make sure you're using the Obelisk Subspace Rift Warp Core so you get the 10% bonus to Antiproton damage.

I wouldn't do Aux2Bat on a carrier (since you'll be gimping your ability to constantly launch fighters), but a standard layout with +Threat consoles should work well. Try the following layout:

Lt Tac: Tactical Team 1, Fire At Will 2
Cdr Eng: EPtW 1, EPtS 2, RSP 2, Aux2SIF 3.
Lt Eng: EPtW 1, EPtS 2
Lt Cdr Sci: HE1, TSS2, GW1
Ens Tac: Tactical Team 1

You'll be tough and nigh-invulnerable like any tanking cruiser. If it's too sluggish you can swap EPtW1 for EPtE1, though I don't recommend it. Constantly cycling EPtW1 will keep your beams strong, although with 2 hangers and just 4 Arrays and 2 Turrets worth of drain, you could afford to give it up for better turn rates and speed.

Keeping TT1 and EPtS2 cycling will keep your shields strong, with TSS2 providing a good shield heal and RSP2 when it's not enough. Constantly firing off Aux2SIF3 keeps your hull topped every 15s, with a large amount of damage resistance 2/3rds of the time. HE1 will patch up whatever damage manages to get through.

This results in a nigh-invulnerable tank with respectable damage due to the fact that it's a carrier. Two hangers of Elite Swarmers promises to be interesting when we get access to it, but currently two hangers of Elite Scorpions should get roughly 5k to 6k DPS in an eSTF by themselves. Against the Voth, two hangers of Elite Deltas are respectable. Don't worry about FAW2, you'll be able to survive whatever aggro you may get.

Make sure you have a Gravimetric Scientist DOff for the Grav Well 1. Alternatively... I have no idea, I hadn't had a Lt Cdr Science slot in ages. TSS3, HE2, and PH1 is alright. PH1 is going to be nothing more than for increasing hull resistance, since you shouldn't really need to care about tractor beams in a ship like this.

Remember: If you're a Fed, this is the only free carrier you get. It's not a bad ship if you can get used to flying an indestructible brick.

The Advanced Obelisk (800 Lobi) comes with the Reactive Anti-Proton Cascade Emitter, and the three item set bonus lets all your carrier pets get a mini-version of your Emergency Power to X abilities, increasing their damage and survivability if you use EPtW and EPtS respectively. The Adv version is definitely nice, but at 800 Lobi you may want the Recluse or Dreadnaught instead. The former lets you field Elite Mesh Weavers while the latter has a solid damage-dealing BOff layout.

[Kantazo]

Great thanks for the information.

[Code743]

Another slant on the science BOFF layout could be TB1, HE2, TSS3 (or HE1, TB2 even).

There's nothing wrong with GW1 as a traffic control ability, but it has quite a narrow firing arc which may not be entirely suitable for a slow turning carrier. The tractor beam has a 360 degree arc and could be used to hold smaller, faster ships in place and thus negate some of the Obelisk's lack of maneuverability.

[Dark]

Hm, what's your definition of narrow?

GW used to be 90 degrees fore, but it's 135 degrees now, which means it partially overlaps with broadsides.

[Thomas Killah]

It was an okay ship for me, but I ended up scrapping the good parts and using it for my other ship that I liked better. But, sometimes, I miss the Hangar Bays