I‘ve been using my Recusant as a flanker and whilst setting up my Mar Tuuk list I was a bit pushed for points. After investigating, I found that if I used a Star Frigate with ET’s I could shave 3 points off as below: -
Munificent Star Frigate (73) • Engine Techs (8) • Thermal Shields (5) • Tide of Progress XII (2) = 88 Points
Recusant Light Destroyer (85) • Patriot Fist (6) = 91 Points
Each has throt good and bad points (continual nav on the SF to utilize double arcing springs to mind) but I believe the Thermal Shields would provide a better dividend than the two extra hull (plus 1 extra shield at the front On the SF).
I tried it out in my last list (I actually had Sa Naloar as the title but didn’t get to use it) and it performed great! Nose to nose with an Acclimator and it easily came off best.
Does anyone else agree or is Patriot Fist the best choice?
I would probably rather take the Munificent, but where is the dice fixing? Intensify Firepower? I'm worried about red blanks (with either ship).
In a one-on-one fight I expect the Recusant will beat the Munificent without much trouble. Two extra hull, an extra Evade, and better firepower beats one shield and pseudo-ECM. Using ETs require Navs, the Recusant can do Engineering or ConFire instead.
In a fleet battle things change. Medium base is a significant advantage when you maneuver in between multiple other ships. In addition the Star Frigate has one of the best Flak batteries in the game (Red+Black, vs one Blue for the Light DD) making it far more useful if the enemy has a lot of squadrons.