It's very interesting that our friends on Fossic have drawn opposite conclusions to the English community on things like the Dragonfire, which most people generally conclude is underpowered due to its low range, arming time, limited ammo, and lack of hard flux. I've stuck it on a few ships that aren't supposed to see combat as a last-ditch defensive measure, but I don't think I would use it on something I intend to use for fighting.
They do conclude the same thing as most others do for the Retribution, saying that it is essentially a weaker version of the Odyssey. Using it in the random battle section, it can be a very decisive ship, but also fairly risky to use, and a lot harder to use without taking damage.
The conclusions on Escort Package, I think, do not account for the relative fragility of destroyers, but I'm not certain how the AI will handle things. It's possible that a Sunder or Manticore on the battle line will keep its distance and do quite well, but it's also possible that they'll be a lot more vulnerable to attrition than a capital ship battle line, and even with some shield buffs, a destroyer can be killed by a single poor move. It's hard to imagine one or two Onslaughts escorted by destroyers managing to survive some of the situations that a group of two or three Onslaughts covering each other can.