Unfortunately Conquest is no longer the fleet-soloing monster it used to be. Now it's a weaker Onslaught basically, still slower than non-capitals and has Onslaught's firepower - but only on one side since it can't sustain firing 4 big guns.Depends what those big guns are, and what skills the ship has. Hellbore or Mark IX is not too flux intensive. Mark IX is simple but effective.
I may be weird here, but I think that the Paragon is probably the most awful ship the PLAYER can field. In the hands of the AI it's great, but never YOUR AI. It's notoriously dumb and you never can put out enough damage to justify the flux.I like the Paragon. It is the only ship (that is not a carrier) that has any shot range beyond short. It is the only ship that makes me feel like I am shooting something instead of brandishing a knife, unless I include carriers (due to fighters being passive homing weapons). Unfortunately, Paragon has to use beams to get that range, but quad Tachyon Lance (plus two HVDs to put hard flux on shields if necessary) is so brutally effective.
I think that the Odyssey, since it's obviously supposed to be a shield-tank, should get the turret arcs fixed, reduced armor, slightly higher speed, turn-rate and Dissipation, and have Flux Shunt installed; that would give it a role as a shield-tank that has some serious teeth and can survive a lot of low-level pressure from Low Tech fighters... but is rather fragile when it needs to lower them.
The problem with Odyssey is it is too fragile to fight any other capital in a slugging match. Unless it uses beams, it cannot get close enough to other capitals without getting shot back, and it does not have the defenses to withstand a slugging match against Conquest or maybe even Legion, let alone Onslaught or Paragon.
Odyssey is good against smaller ships (if they stick around to fight), but I do not need a capital for that role only. (Capitals are expensive to use.) I need a capital to stand-up against other capitals and Odyssey cannot function at that. Any situation that makes the Odyssey look good can also make the other capitals look good too, and those other capitals are powerful enough to fight their peers on their own. Well, Paragon is powerful enough that some of the other capitals may need to be configured specifically to counter Paragon (e.g., Gauss Cannons on Conquest).
I don't think that the Odyssey needs to be able to stand up to the other capitals in a straight fight. 80 speed means it is faster than the majority of cruisers, and destroyers only just outrun it. Large energy mounts mean a lot of burst damage, so it can finish uneven fights quickly. That means even if it would lose a fight with most capitals and has a harder time with groups of cruisers, it can help a fleet more80 speed would be if every cruiser worth using in a fight did not have 80 speed and/or a mobility system to make their effective speed higher than base. Falcon, and maybe Eagle too, with jets spam is faster than Odyssey. Dominator may be in trouble (due to poor maneuverability), but maybe not since it is close to capital strength already. Aurora with jets spam (plus 80 speed) is faster than Medusa (because Phase Skimmer recharges slower than jets, Aurora will catch up and kill Medusa eventually). Apogee is in trouble, but it is not much of a combat ship anymore, just a high-tech mule or hybrid. Heron has 80 speed, just as fast. Mora, okay, it is dead meat... eventually. (Stupid Mora ruining Damper Field for Centurion/Brawler.) So no, Odyssey is not really faster than most other combat cruisers. That leaves mostly capitals that Odyssey can outspeed, but it does not have the durability or firepower to defeat other capitals in a fair fight. Odyssey needs to rely on ion damage (from fighters) or some cheese to win. If I pay for a capital, I do not want to jump through hoops with Odyssey to win if I do not need to with any other capital.
HEF is critical to viability of current Odyssey as Tachyon Lance sniper, replacing it with pretty much anything will render Odyssey impotent (for the role it's currently best at).If I play beam sniper, I rather have Reserve Deployment to keep the fighters going and replacement rate up. When I try to snipe with beams, fighters are key to beams' success. Without fighters, beams are useless, with or without HEF.
@MegasReserve Deployment is for hard flux (from fighters), and that is superior to trying to overwhelming tough shields with soft flux. Also, two wings of fighters is not very much for Odyssey, and Reserve Deployment works wonders at keeping replacement rate up or at least slow down how fast the rate drops. Odyssey needs fighters (otherwise, just grab Aurora or Paragon for your high-tech speed or capital fix, smash things, and be done with it). I tried brute forcing through shields with soft flux (with and without HEF), but it is not very effective against the major threats (i.e., other capitals). Also, HEF does not recharge very fast, and I have to make them count. If I mess up or they are not enough, Odyssey must fight without HEF for a while. I had better results cheesing the AI by waiting until it drops shields, then fire beams (because Tachyon Lance is almost hitscan) and clip unshielded sections at the enemy's side before its shields raise fully, but Paragon is a much better Tachyon Lance sniper than Odyssey, and it has HVDs to put hard flux on shields as a last resort when AI no longer cooperates with cheese against it.
Hard flux is not strictly necessary. Soft-flux above enemy shield efficiency * flux regen is good enough, and that's what HEF allows. Won't work against Paragon, but anything else is a valid target (Paragon can be cheesed to death too).
Reserve deployment would effectively give 3rd wing - nice, but nowhere near as good effectively extra 1.5 Tachyon Lances + some extra Tac Lasers.
Unlike the Paragon, the Odyssey is well-equipped for long-range exploration. It can carry a respectable amount of cargo, has lots of hangar capacity for fighters to tag along, and consumes a reasonable amount of fuel for a capital ship. It requires a bit more care in battle, but overall makes an excellent flagship, especially for a player focused on skills that improve the performance of their ship.
What about the Odyssey's non-combat stats? According to the devblog that introduced it, the Odyssey was originally envisioned to be an exploration ship.It is barely better than other capitals at hauling, but Odyssey is still a pig and as or more expensive to use than other capitals. You want to have a ship as strong as the current Odyssey yet friendly to logistics? Bring a cruiser instead, it eats much less than a capital and can fight just as well.
The Odyssey's speed isn't enough to save it from being pummeled, which nearly every other high-tech ship can do.This would be less of a problem if Odyssey's shields were decent. If Odyssey could take some hits while closing in, pop out a few shots, then back off, it would be okay. 0.8 shields were not great, but Odyssey could absorb a few hits. Now, with 1.0 shields, Odyssey absorb hits poorly, and it does not have the OP to afford Hardened Shields or capacitors to offset that without sacrificing other things it desperately needs too, like critical hullmods and two effective fighter wings. (I leave missiles empty, and have no capacitors, but still do not have enough OP to max vents.)