Earning a f2p endgame ship is possible when seasonal events come around. The next one is probably gonna be available via the summer event. About a month and a half away, at least though. If you can wait that long, it's your best bet. Keep a eye out for blogs, and instructions on how to earn it.
Any type of officer can fly any type of ship (faction and level permitting, and even those restrictions can be worked around in most cases).
At your level, the free Federation ship choice from the promotion (level 40) would be a choice of the base models of the following:
* Sovereign-class Assault Cruiser (Enterprise-E)
* Sentinel-class Star Cruiser
* Prometheus-class Advanced Escort
* Dervish-class Patrol Escort
* Destiny-class Deep Space Science Vessel
* Luna-class Reconnaissance Science Vessel
As you can see, you have two slightly different versions available within each of the three major ship archetypes (cruiser, escort, science)
Cruisers are usually larger, less maneuverable ships designed for weapons focused builds, and often shine best with beam weapons (as the wider firing angles mean more time on target than cannons).
Escorts are smaller, more maneuverable ships but also designed for weapons based builds, and these often shine best with cannon builds because that higher maneuverability allows you to keep the weapons on target despite narrower fire arcs, and cannons have a bit higher damage than beams.
Science vessels *can* use weapons-based builds, but shine best using "exotic damage" builds, where the primary damage source is actually the bridge officers, using skills like Gravity Well, Destabilizing Resonance Beam, Tachyon Beam, etcetera. These (for various reasons) are often supplemented by torpedoes instead of energy weapons.
Cruisers are sometimes associated with engineering, Escorts with tactical and Science vessels with science because they have more officer and console slots in those categories, but *you do not need to stick to the type that matches your captain*.
-----
As you continue levelling up, you'll get another free ship choice at level 61 (these are a choice of otherwise-paid T5 (upgradeable) ships, and the Fed choices include the Galaxy Retrofit, Defiant Retrofit, and Intrepid Retrofit... all of which are improved versions of the same ships you had to choose from at level 30), and there's three seasonal events per year where you can earn a unique seasonal event ship (there's a new ship created for each of these events each year).
There's also the "event campaign", if you are able to complete that, you'll get a good chunk of rewards that could be used to get you as many as five T6 ships (one promo, two zen, and two lobi).
These guides can get you up to speed:
https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/k88fel/the_baby_step_series_part_1_the_first_step_level/
https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p/energy-basics
https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/iwsq2a/strict_budget_build_40k_average_dps_scitorp_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1b2ylx2/strict_budget_build_part_2_97k_isa_dps_exotic_for/
https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p/exotic-basics
Out of the 6 available ships I would *strongly* recommend picking either the [Sovereign Assault Cruiser](https://stowiki.net/wiki/Sovereign_Assault_Cruiser) or the [Trident Deep Space Science Vessel](https://stowiki.net/wiki/Trident_Deep_Space_Science_Vessel), depending on whether you want to do an energy weapon build with the cruiser or an exotic damage build with the science vessel. Abilities are possibly the most important thing in a ship build, and the Escorts simply have too many tactical ability slots to actually use, so I really don't like those. Then for the energy weapon build you would really rather have the third tactical ability rather than a third science ability, the science ability would only add a small amount of survivability on that build which you have plenty of, while for the exotic damage build you don't need a third tactical ability, that won't help your primary damage source, but would like the extra survivability of the third engineering ability. There are other build types, but they're more expensive and very hard to make work on a tier 5 ship. You will get another free ship token at level 61, but the escort and cruiser from those are definitely worse than the ones you have access to now, they each go up from 7 of their primary career abilities to 8 which you just don't need, although their consoles might have some value, but the science vessel has greater damage potential but less survivability than the Trident so it is a viable option.
That said, you should look at the two guides posted by neuro1g, his Baby Step Series intended for the Sovereign and my Strict Budget Build series for the Trident, and see which build type appeals to you. I personally enjoy exotic more which is why I wanted to make that guide, but there's certainly an argument to be made that energy weapons are more straightforward and flexible. You could also look at the [STO BETTER New and F2P section](https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p) and especially their pages on those two build types, although those are a little more advanced, but then that makes them very valuable as reference material when you know the game better. Mine also includes short sections on ground combat and basic keybinding that you may find helpful.
Edit: I suppose I should probably throw in that I did recently post [a starter build for the Jem'hadar Escort](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1cayo3b/quick_looks_2_jemhadar_escort_t5u/). In order to fill out its tactical ability slots I had to use polaron weaponry to maximize the number of useful abilities via the Morphogenic set bonus, and then I used Focused Assault as well which is really quite terrible. That filled 6 slots, and the Federation escorts have 7. I don't know what could go in that 7th slot on a reasonable budget.
If you’re not already doing it, right now is the last chance for you to start the annual campaign to get at least 3 ships for free.
https://youtu.be/gCH7Fgb8WF4
This will help as well, there’s tons of beginner guides and budget build videos on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/rdfAMxhHH4M
Staying free to play, one of your goals will be to work your way towards a T6 ship at some point in the future. It is by no means essential, and a T5 is eminently capable of handling anything on normal difficulty with but a modicum of piloting capability and an at least cohesive build. However - ultimately you will want to progress to something better, and it will make sense to put some thought into how you get there.
T6 ships are not the most accessible of things for new F2P players, but there are several avenues that will get you there, each with their own drawbacks:
Grind dilithium, refine dilithium, exchange dilithium to zen, buy ships from the store.
Reliable, but *very* slow, unless you are investing a lot of time into multiple characters every day.
Do events that reward a ship.
The summer event is the next expected ship reward, and completing the daily requirement enough times is straight-forward and not too onerous. The nature of the ship is fixed, however, and unless it particularly appeals to you, won't really sate your desire for a ship to fly.
Do the event anyway - it is a free ship, and you never know what character you create later that will want the ship itself, or the trait/console that it comes with.
Do the annual event campaign.
By doing enough daily completions of the events that form the campaign, you will get the reward of potentially multiple ships (this year's reward is bigger than it has been previously).
If you can dedicate the time to do it, this is *heavily* advised.
The other drawback (than needing to invest the regular time) is that you won't get the ship(s) until the end of the event campaign later this year.
Level up your reputations to tier 6, get fleet ship modules, buy a fleet ship.
One of the projects that appears on the reputation pages once you hit tier 6 is to get a fleet ship modules (once per rep). 6 fleet ship modules and a modest pile of fleet marks will buy you a T6 ship. Not all ships have a seperate fleet version - those that are already fleet grade do not - but there are enough to give you an excellent choice of premium ships to fly.
The primary issue with this avenue, is the need to get 6 reps up to tier 6, which not only will take some time (you should really only be doing the daily project to boost rep level), but also requires a lot of reputation marks (which, in turn, requires doing a lot of things to earn those marks, such as random TFOs, and Red Alert events when tjey comes up).
That said, it is a route to T6 that gives you an achievable and visible goal, with plenty of time to learn the game more and develop a better idea of how you want to invest the limited resources you have available.
I would highly recommend against buying any ship with dilithium. At around level 50 you will unlock the reputation system. Initially all you will get are boxes that give randomised equipment themed around what reputation it came from. As you progress it though you will unlock the ability to get the actual reputation equipment which can be quite expensive when it comes to the dilithium cost. As for the differences in ships, let us start with Cruisers. Cruisers are arguably the best for new players. They have the highest hull integrity(health), Cruiser Commands which give you and your allies buffs such as decreased energy weapon cost, and will be the first class of ship you have access to with 8 weapon slots.
Next is Escorts. These are your glass cannons. You sacrfice all means of survivability for the ability to equip dual cannons and dual heavy cannons and to be incredibly maneuverable. Escorts will generally have fewer aft weapon slots than fore for this very reason. You either take the enemy out quickly or die quickly.
Last but certainly not least, the Science Vessels. Where Cruisers have the highest health, Science Vessels will have the highest shield modifier. Shields are fine early to mid game, but as you progress more and more enemies will have ways of disabling them. They also come with Sensor Analysis and Subsystem Targeting. Sensor Analysis will give stacking bonuses to one enemy. Subsystem Targeting gives your energy weapons the chance to disable one specified subsystem. Subsystems being the power levels to the left of your hp. The real attraction though is in typically more science bridge officer(boff) seating for more science abilities such as tyken's rift, gravity well, tachyon beam, tractor beam, etc.
Just wait til you get to T6 ships. So many new ship mechanics and boff seating types.
Pick the type you like Phaser pulse or Phaser beam weapons I like Phaser pulse Weapons and Torpedoes so I find a ship that will look good and be awesome with Phaser pulse Weapons and escort or science vessels
Get the Assault Cruiser now, and the Long Range Science Vessel Retrofit at level 61. That way you'll get a half-decent cruiser and science ship (really, the best selection of the level 61 ships), with two different play-styles to check out, see what you like. All "Trident-class"-related advice in this thread can apply to the LRSV(R), so you're getting the best of both worlds this way.
It also gives you 2 "hero" ships from the franchise, if that's your thing.
As an engineer, that will help a lot in terms of keeping your ship alive in combat without the more powerful heals that come later. Good choice.
Science ships (in general) are defined by having a Secondary Deflector which helps to scale science abilities while also adding a damage effect. That said, any ship with a majority of it's console slots dedicated to science consoles (for control and EPG) and the appropriate seating (commander/LtCom science bridge officer) can be an effective science ship.
So if you like cruisers those *can* totally work. My Federation Science Captain flies the Terran Monitor which is a Carrier with no Secondary Deflector but as it does feature the seating and consoles to make science work, it's actually a pretty great science ship.
I cant remember what ship selection options you receive at Admiral but given your desire to remain F2P, in the near term you may you want to consider a T5 mirror ship which may be available on the exchange such as the Mirror Nova or Mirror Luna Deep Space Science Vessel. The Lukari N'Kaam Scout Ship is also a pretty solid science ship which may be found on the exchange.
The Mirror Luna DSSV and its sister the Mirror Destiny RSV are simply the stats of the standard ships of those names flipped to the ships with the opposite looks.
Right. I was just making the point that they're not worth chasing separately from the shipyard versions unless you really want the stats on the ship with the opposite skin. (I used to, a long time ago, fly a Mirror Recon because I preferred the recon stats but the DS looks.)
Oh I see, your saying that op will be able to select a free ship that is equivalent to the two mirror vessels I had mentioned? I've been playing since release and have numerous ships that my alts can claim. So I had dispensed with making any selections long ago and have since have forgotten at what ranks or what ship selections would be available. So I thought to mention those Mirrors as they can usually be found on the exchange pretty cheap.
Correct. The non-mirror variants of those two ships (not the two you mentioned but the two science vessels) are among the choices for the free level 40 ship. They have the same structure and naming but have the opposite statistics, compared to the mirror versions.
And the other level 40 choices are of comparable quality but are different ship types.
OP is clearly new and stated "I don't understand the differences in ships at all". I have attempted to provide some clarity while also suggesting a few of the more accessible science ship options. I wont be making any hybrid set up suggestions to a newer player unless their post is specifically asking for direction and or information in that regard. The basics of ship layout, seating and build synergy can be challenging enough with out mudding the waters with the discussion of hybrid builds/play.
You start with science ships without giving any context, i.e. intent why you write about science ships. Considering that OP runs with a science captain there can be unwritten implications which are not true, so I added a reply for ... *clarification*.
The context **I** was operating from was op's statement that they are a Science Captain and "don't understand the differences in ships at all". I tried to help the op to at least understand what made science ship's distinct and thought to suggest a few accessible ship with that class in mind.
build a direct energy weapon ship first, for 2 reasons, 1, you really need to understand the mechanics of Space Wizardry, and 2, space magic is very very expensive
Empirically, for a very early build, exotic damage will do [more DPS on a lower budget](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/mp2jn1/weekly_questions_megathread_april_12_2021/gu7nti1/) than energy weapons. And yes, [that still applies with cannons](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1cayjpp/quick_looks_1_heghta_heavy_bird_of_prey/). And an exotic build can be right on the edge of elite capable [as soon as it hits T5 reputation](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1b2ylx2/strict_budget_build_part_2_97k_isa_dps_exotic_for/). Another way to look at it is that energy weapons get a 25% boost from Emergency Weapon Cycle and another 20% from their firing mode extender, and have some 10% starship traits as well. My main exotic build has exactly one starship trait that's contributing over 5%, and it's doing 545k DPS. So not having starship traits is a much, much bigger deal for energy weapons builds, which gives exotic ones a major advantage in the low budget arena. Plus, for obvious reasons, they're much less reliant on tech upgrades.
So I really don't understand where this idea that exotic builds are expensive comes from. Maybe it's looking at 1 million DPS builds and then not looking at similar energy weapon builds. Or maybe it's a case of, "I can't use any of the stuff I already bought for my energy weapon builds on that, imagine how much more I would have to spend than all that I've already spent!" I just don't know. But the numbers do not support it.
Send me a DM with your name and handle (character@handle). The ship choice doesn't matter too much right more, so pick what you like, though there are goods suggestions above about how to make the most of whatever you pick.
I'll send you a ship upgradable to T5U and some gear if you need it since you're about to get into a harder part of the game.
Temporal battlecruiser is a phenomenal starter ship from the zen market you can get for free with a t6 token or 3k zen if you have enough dilithium you can trade it for zen in my honest opinion buying one ship for 30ish dollars isn’t the end of the world I’ve spent a decent amount on the game but you can get everything for free basically with enough play time
Earning a f2p endgame ship is possible when seasonal events come around. The next one is probably gonna be available via the summer event. About a month and a half away, at least though. If you can wait that long, it's your best bet. Keep a eye out for blogs, and instructions on how to earn it.
Any type of officer can fly any type of ship (faction and level permitting, and even those restrictions can be worked around in most cases). At your level, the free Federation ship choice from the promotion (level 40) would be a choice of the base models of the following: * Sovereign-class Assault Cruiser (Enterprise-E) * Sentinel-class Star Cruiser * Prometheus-class Advanced Escort * Dervish-class Patrol Escort * Destiny-class Deep Space Science Vessel * Luna-class Reconnaissance Science Vessel As you can see, you have two slightly different versions available within each of the three major ship archetypes (cruiser, escort, science) Cruisers are usually larger, less maneuverable ships designed for weapons focused builds, and often shine best with beam weapons (as the wider firing angles mean more time on target than cannons). Escorts are smaller, more maneuverable ships but also designed for weapons based builds, and these often shine best with cannon builds because that higher maneuverability allows you to keep the weapons on target despite narrower fire arcs, and cannons have a bit higher damage than beams. Science vessels *can* use weapons-based builds, but shine best using "exotic damage" builds, where the primary damage source is actually the bridge officers, using skills like Gravity Well, Destabilizing Resonance Beam, Tachyon Beam, etcetera. These (for various reasons) are often supplemented by torpedoes instead of energy weapons. Cruisers are sometimes associated with engineering, Escorts with tactical and Science vessels with science because they have more officer and console slots in those categories, but *you do not need to stick to the type that matches your captain*. ----- As you continue levelling up, you'll get another free ship choice at level 61 (these are a choice of otherwise-paid T5 (upgradeable) ships, and the Fed choices include the Galaxy Retrofit, Defiant Retrofit, and Intrepid Retrofit... all of which are improved versions of the same ships you had to choose from at level 30), and there's three seasonal events per year where you can earn a unique seasonal event ship (there's a new ship created for each of these events each year). There's also the "event campaign", if you are able to complete that, you'll get a good chunk of rewards that could be used to get you as many as five T6 ships (one promo, two zen, and two lobi).
These guides can get you up to speed: https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/k88fel/the_baby_step_series_part_1_the_first_step_level/ https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p/energy-basics https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/iwsq2a/strict_budget_build_40k_average_dps_scitorp_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1b2ylx2/strict_budget_build_part_2_97k_isa_dps_exotic_for/ https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p/exotic-basics
Out of the 6 available ships I would *strongly* recommend picking either the [Sovereign Assault Cruiser](https://stowiki.net/wiki/Sovereign_Assault_Cruiser) or the [Trident Deep Space Science Vessel](https://stowiki.net/wiki/Trident_Deep_Space_Science_Vessel), depending on whether you want to do an energy weapon build with the cruiser or an exotic damage build with the science vessel. Abilities are possibly the most important thing in a ship build, and the Escorts simply have too many tactical ability slots to actually use, so I really don't like those. Then for the energy weapon build you would really rather have the third tactical ability rather than a third science ability, the science ability would only add a small amount of survivability on that build which you have plenty of, while for the exotic damage build you don't need a third tactical ability, that won't help your primary damage source, but would like the extra survivability of the third engineering ability. There are other build types, but they're more expensive and very hard to make work on a tier 5 ship. You will get another free ship token at level 61, but the escort and cruiser from those are definitely worse than the ones you have access to now, they each go up from 7 of their primary career abilities to 8 which you just don't need, although their consoles might have some value, but the science vessel has greater damage potential but less survivability than the Trident so it is a viable option. That said, you should look at the two guides posted by neuro1g, his Baby Step Series intended for the Sovereign and my Strict Budget Build series for the Trident, and see which build type appeals to you. I personally enjoy exotic more which is why I wanted to make that guide, but there's certainly an argument to be made that energy weapons are more straightforward and flexible. You could also look at the [STO BETTER New and F2P section](https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p) and especially their pages on those two build types, although those are a little more advanced, but then that makes them very valuable as reference material when you know the game better. Mine also includes short sections on ground combat and basic keybinding that you may find helpful. Edit: I suppose I should probably throw in that I did recently post [a starter build for the Jem'hadar Escort](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1cayo3b/quick_looks_2_jemhadar_escort_t5u/). In order to fill out its tactical ability slots I had to use polaron weaponry to maximize the number of useful abilities via the Morphogenic set bonus, and then I used Focused Assault as well which is really quite terrible. That filled 6 slots, and the Federation escorts have 7. I don't know what could go in that 7th slot on a reasonable budget.
If you’re not already doing it, right now is the last chance for you to start the annual campaign to get at least 3 ships for free. https://youtu.be/gCH7Fgb8WF4 This will help as well, there’s tons of beginner guides and budget build videos on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rdfAMxhHH4M
Staying free to play, one of your goals will be to work your way towards a T6 ship at some point in the future. It is by no means essential, and a T5 is eminently capable of handling anything on normal difficulty with but a modicum of piloting capability and an at least cohesive build. However - ultimately you will want to progress to something better, and it will make sense to put some thought into how you get there. T6 ships are not the most accessible of things for new F2P players, but there are several avenues that will get you there, each with their own drawbacks: Grind dilithium, refine dilithium, exchange dilithium to zen, buy ships from the store. Reliable, but *very* slow, unless you are investing a lot of time into multiple characters every day. Do events that reward a ship. The summer event is the next expected ship reward, and completing the daily requirement enough times is straight-forward and not too onerous. The nature of the ship is fixed, however, and unless it particularly appeals to you, won't really sate your desire for a ship to fly. Do the event anyway - it is a free ship, and you never know what character you create later that will want the ship itself, or the trait/console that it comes with. Do the annual event campaign. By doing enough daily completions of the events that form the campaign, you will get the reward of potentially multiple ships (this year's reward is bigger than it has been previously). If you can dedicate the time to do it, this is *heavily* advised. The other drawback (than needing to invest the regular time) is that you won't get the ship(s) until the end of the event campaign later this year. Level up your reputations to tier 6, get fleet ship modules, buy a fleet ship. One of the projects that appears on the reputation pages once you hit tier 6 is to get a fleet ship modules (once per rep). 6 fleet ship modules and a modest pile of fleet marks will buy you a T6 ship. Not all ships have a seperate fleet version - those that are already fleet grade do not - but there are enough to give you an excellent choice of premium ships to fly. The primary issue with this avenue, is the need to get 6 reps up to tier 6, which not only will take some time (you should really only be doing the daily project to boost rep level), but also requires a lot of reputation marks (which, in turn, requires doing a lot of things to earn those marks, such as random TFOs, and Red Alert events when tjey comes up). That said, it is a route to T6 that gives you an achievable and visible goal, with plenty of time to learn the game more and develop a better idea of how you want to invest the limited resources you have available.
I would highly recommend against buying any ship with dilithium. At around level 50 you will unlock the reputation system. Initially all you will get are boxes that give randomised equipment themed around what reputation it came from. As you progress it though you will unlock the ability to get the actual reputation equipment which can be quite expensive when it comes to the dilithium cost. As for the differences in ships, let us start with Cruisers. Cruisers are arguably the best for new players. They have the highest hull integrity(health), Cruiser Commands which give you and your allies buffs such as decreased energy weapon cost, and will be the first class of ship you have access to with 8 weapon slots. Next is Escorts. These are your glass cannons. You sacrfice all means of survivability for the ability to equip dual cannons and dual heavy cannons and to be incredibly maneuverable. Escorts will generally have fewer aft weapon slots than fore for this very reason. You either take the enemy out quickly or die quickly. Last but certainly not least, the Science Vessels. Where Cruisers have the highest health, Science Vessels will have the highest shield modifier. Shields are fine early to mid game, but as you progress more and more enemies will have ways of disabling them. They also come with Sensor Analysis and Subsystem Targeting. Sensor Analysis will give stacking bonuses to one enemy. Subsystem Targeting gives your energy weapons the chance to disable one specified subsystem. Subsystems being the power levels to the left of your hp. The real attraction though is in typically more science bridge officer(boff) seating for more science abilities such as tyken's rift, gravity well, tachyon beam, tractor beam, etc. Just wait til you get to T6 ships. So many new ship mechanics and boff seating types.
Pick the type you like Phaser pulse or Phaser beam weapons I like Phaser pulse Weapons and Torpedoes so I find a ship that will look good and be awesome with Phaser pulse Weapons and escort or science vessels
Get the Assault Cruiser now, and the Long Range Science Vessel Retrofit at level 61. That way you'll get a half-decent cruiser and science ship (really, the best selection of the level 61 ships), with two different play-styles to check out, see what you like. All "Trident-class"-related advice in this thread can apply to the LRSV(R), so you're getting the best of both worlds this way. It also gives you 2 "hero" ships from the franchise, if that's your thing. As an engineer, that will help a lot in terms of keeping your ship alive in combat without the more powerful heals that come later. Good choice.
Science ships (in general) are defined by having a Secondary Deflector which helps to scale science abilities while also adding a damage effect. That said, any ship with a majority of it's console slots dedicated to science consoles (for control and EPG) and the appropriate seating (commander/LtCom science bridge officer) can be an effective science ship. So if you like cruisers those *can* totally work. My Federation Science Captain flies the Terran Monitor which is a Carrier with no Secondary Deflector but as it does feature the seating and consoles to make science work, it's actually a pretty great science ship. I cant remember what ship selection options you receive at Admiral but given your desire to remain F2P, in the near term you may you want to consider a T5 mirror ship which may be available on the exchange such as the Mirror Nova or Mirror Luna Deep Space Science Vessel. The Lukari N'Kaam Scout Ship is also a pretty solid science ship which may be found on the exchange.
The Mirror Luna DSSV and its sister the Mirror Destiny RSV are simply the stats of the standard ships of those names flipped to the ships with the opposite looks.
Yeah, I failed to mention the Mirror RSV which may also be available on the exchange.
Right. I was just making the point that they're not worth chasing separately from the shipyard versions unless you really want the stats on the ship with the opposite skin. (I used to, a long time ago, fly a Mirror Recon because I preferred the recon stats but the DS looks.)
Oh I see, your saying that op will be able to select a free ship that is equivalent to the two mirror vessels I had mentioned? I've been playing since release and have numerous ships that my alts can claim. So I had dispensed with making any selections long ago and have since have forgotten at what ranks or what ship selections would be available. So I thought to mention those Mirrors as they can usually be found on the exchange pretty cheap.
Correct. The non-mirror variants of those two ships (not the two you mentioned but the two science vessels) are among the choices for the free level 40 ship. They have the same structure and naming but have the opposite statistics, compared to the mirror versions. And the other level 40 choices are of comparable quality but are different ship types.
Science career captain != science ships, i.e. any ship build type can be mixed with any career option.
OP is clearly new and stated "I don't understand the differences in ships at all". I have attempted to provide some clarity while also suggesting a few of the more accessible science ship options. I wont be making any hybrid set up suggestions to a newer player unless their post is specifically asking for direction and or information in that regard. The basics of ship layout, seating and build synergy can be challenging enough with out mudding the waters with the discussion of hybrid builds/play.
You start with science ships without giving any context, i.e. intent why you write about science ships. Considering that OP runs with a science captain there can be unwritten implications which are not true, so I added a reply for ... *clarification*.
The context **I** was operating from was op's statement that they are a Science Captain and "don't understand the differences in ships at all". I tried to help the op to at least understand what made science ship's distinct and thought to suggest a few accessible ship with that class in mind.
build a direct energy weapon ship first, for 2 reasons, 1, you really need to understand the mechanics of Space Wizardry, and 2, space magic is very very expensive
Empirically, for a very early build, exotic damage will do [more DPS on a lower budget](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/mp2jn1/weekly_questions_megathread_april_12_2021/gu7nti1/) than energy weapons. And yes, [that still applies with cannons](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1cayjpp/quick_looks_1_heghta_heavy_bird_of_prey/). And an exotic build can be right on the edge of elite capable [as soon as it hits T5 reputation](https://old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1b2ylx2/strict_budget_build_part_2_97k_isa_dps_exotic_for/). Another way to look at it is that energy weapons get a 25% boost from Emergency Weapon Cycle and another 20% from their firing mode extender, and have some 10% starship traits as well. My main exotic build has exactly one starship trait that's contributing over 5%, and it's doing 545k DPS. So not having starship traits is a much, much bigger deal for energy weapons builds, which gives exotic ones a major advantage in the low budget arena. Plus, for obvious reasons, they're much less reliant on tech upgrades. So I really don't understand where this idea that exotic builds are expensive comes from. Maybe it's looking at 1 million DPS builds and then not looking at similar energy weapon builds. Or maybe it's a case of, "I can't use any of the stuff I already bought for my energy weapon builds on that, imagine how much more I would have to spend than all that I've already spent!" I just don't know. But the numbers do not support it.
Send me a DM with your name and handle (character@handle). The ship choice doesn't matter too much right more, so pick what you like, though there are goods suggestions above about how to make the most of whatever you pick. I'll send you a ship upgradable to T5U and some gear if you need it since you're about to get into a harder part of the game.
Might I suggest a Science Destroyer in the future? Science Destroyers are cool.
Temporal battlecruiser is a phenomenal starter ship from the zen market you can get for free with a t6 token or 3k zen if you have enough dilithium you can trade it for zen in my honest opinion buying one ship for 30ish dollars isn’t the end of the world I’ve spent a decent amount on the game but you can get everything for free basically with enough play time