Have enjoyed trying out the two new ships. I've tried limiting myself to vanilla and mod-only hullmods and weapons to experiment with them but have been far more impressed with the Howler and its ship system between a beam build and a heavy blaster build since it can dump flux. The Bellicose on the other hand has felt a little lackluster, definitely similar to a Brilliant but in terms of function like a much slower Fury with even greater liability trying to disengage safely unless you're doing a beam centered build where it can stay back safely. Maybe a DP of 25 to be exactly the same as a Brilliant would make it feel better. Otherwise they're both really cool and have been a lot of fun playing with and using in a fresh playthrough!
Thanks for the feedback. I love player ship reviews since it helps me rebalance content, and having the Bellicose not stand out was a concern. I am still thinking of a way to make the ship more interesting that isn't just throwing ultracapacitors on it like the Flamebreaker.
So far it's excelled very well with the Strike variant using the beam subsystem, in fact after trying out some different combinations of beam weapons from vanilla and within the mod itself it's great as long-ranged fire support/pressure. I had thought about what a different ship system might do or how it would change things but honestly when using it as long-ranged support/pressure, plasma burn is great for pushing forward to finish ships off and keeps it feeling similar to the Brilliant.
Trying to use it in close quarters has been challenging and after some experience, I think it's the shield arc that felt like it could use the most adjustment, maybe to 270 like a Brilliant since one of the biggest issues was getting swarmed especially if it pushed forward too far and not having enough shield coverage to pull out without armor and hull damage. I think there would be a little much overlap with the Tigershark if it had plasma jets even if that would help it more as a strike or close quarters ship. Otherwise I think the OP, flux capacity and dissipation and shield upkeep feels good and keeps it feeling like there's a progression between it, the Tigershark and Flamebreaker. Maybe a touch more top speed to take it to 65 is the only other balance thing.
Having the subsystem interface is pretty powerful since it frees up OP or a smod slot and definitely benefits any build type for it.