Note: I haven't played Star-sector since around .72a sorry if this feedback is a bit dated or has been covered elsewhere. It will also probably be a bit inconclusive as I haven't had a chance to really play as much as I used to.
Desdinova
The Desdinova is a great ship but I feel it might need a few tweaks somewhere. Outfitting it is an issue for me and its low run-time pretty much requires hardened subsystem and it cant really afford to run other hullmods. The only place in my fleet I can find for one is an interceptor under my direct control, basically I load it up with torpedoes and burst weapons and hunt down fleeing targets after a large battle. Unfortunately that's about it. The problem for me seems to be that for the price of the Desdinova I can run two Gonodactylus and outfit them with whatever is at hand, and flex them into most any roll. They can take just as much of beating as the Desdinova, they fight longer and just about as hard as the Desdinova considering its OP restraints. If I don't want the Gonods I can run two Eurypterus instead which honestly seem to do what the Desidinova does better. Yea the Eury cant take the beating at the same level of beating as the Desidinova and its more vulnerable to strike craft but its still much cheaper and that large mount makes it really flexible. The AI also seems to perform better in both the Gonodactylus and the Eurypteru, I feel this has to do with the amount of OP you have to work with in terms of ship systems and armament. No I don't think this a case of the two aforementioned destroyers being OP, I think this is a case of the Desdinova like the Morpheus took some pretty big hits with the new skill system.
As to what I would change on the Desidnova? I came up with three ideas, one simple, one moderate, one extreme. Basically the first one would be boosting its OP, possibly removing some its weapon mounts, the rear missiles, and making the small frontal ballistics more flexible (uni or hybrid) and or allowing for some wider firing arcs on the mounts themselves. I know removing mounts seems strange but I seem to struggle outfitting all the slots meaningfully as it is. While I'm not against running empty slots on ships to get what I want it just seems like the balance cost of those slots could be used elsewhere.
The other idea I had was move its designation from "Heavy Destroyer" to "Light Cruiser" since its already kind of there in cost moving it there in terms of designation could allow with some flexing of its cost, OP, weapon mounts, possibly boosting its run time, ect. While this would be an extreme measure it could really allow it to be a more balanced craft.
The last thing i came up with was some kind of built in weapon system. Considering BRDY already has I think three ships with these I think you probably understand pretty well how hard they can be to balance. That being said it could be an answer if you have some ideas floating around.
Final note, my reasoning could be ***. I struggled to load out an imperial legionary today as well, so it might just be me. Maybe I'm expecting to much?
Locust
I really like the new drive system on these guys, and while I miss the old blink drive I think that more the novelty of having 5 jumps than anything else. Cheap, fast, good at chasing down light targets and scary in numbers. I don't see them very often anymore and it when I do its often the pirate variant.
Zabrus
Not to be to simple here but these guys are like a high tech lasher to me. Their runtime is a bit low but they can really bring the pain with their new system and they aren't to expensive to run. They are vulnerable to strike craft (what isnt now days) but the AI uses their system to great effect it seems and they are quite good as midround reinforcements or chasing things down after a battle. Overall I think they were a great addition to blackrock and really fit the ideology of hit and run tactics.
Weevil
If the Zabrus was something I considered a high tech lasher than the Weevil is what I consider a high tech heavy lasher. Extremely flexible mounts, decent speed, decent arcs on the omni shields and a tough little drone. Its also one of the only frigates I feel comfortable letting the AI run a heavy blaster on. Frankly its my favorite general purpose frigate. It honestly might be slightly to good considering how cheap it is to run.
Poll
770 (23.8%)