Warships

Currently DPS is king. Some may debate this but it is true. And while Escorts tend to be the best DPS ships new ships are constantly added that blur the line on ship types. For example is the Chet Grell an escort or a cruiser?

So I propose a simple classification to the ships I recommend players use, Warships. Any ship that meets these standards is a warship and is ideal for current PvE grinding/farming.

- Equip Heavy Cannons
- Can keep a cannon skill and attack pattern active
- Turn rate high enough to keep DHCs on target.

Not very complicated and many ships qualify. Granted their are some with better performance than others but any ship that meets those criteria will be very effective. As for builds here is a general framework to use when selecting consoles and boff abilities to use but feel free to customize it to your liking.

Consoles
Engineering: A Monotanium Alloy and one or two Neutronium Alloy will greatly increase your survivability.
Science: I really like the new embassy Emitter Array consoles with [-Th] & [Pla].
Tactical: As many +Energy type for your weapon as possible.
Universal: Both the Assimilated Module and Zero-Point Energy Conduit consoles are amazing and should be on every ship. Some of the other consoles are sometimes useful like Theta Radation but I find passive bonuses to be superior the majority of the time.
Field Generators: Are vastly over valued. While they do increase your shield capacity it is not by that large of an amount typically less than half of what they list. In addition they do not increase the regeneration rate or resistance of your shields. In my experience it is far better to have stronger heals with Emitter Array consoles or to simply use the Science console slots for universal consoles. Simply put unless you are exploding in under five seconds of enemy fire that console is not improving your performance. This is of course just my opinion.

Boff Abilities
Cannon Rapid Fire/Scatter Volley:  You should have two copies of one or one of each. Both are very effective and the choice is more of a style or personal preference.
Attack Pattern: Two copies of Beta are my preference most of the time as they provide the highest damage increase. Delta is good if you lack hull resists but I find it's cooldown to be cumbersome. Omega is simple amazing but has a much longer cooldown than beta. I tend to either use a pair of Beta or a single Beta and two Omega depending on ship.
Tactical Team: This is key to keeping you alive. Two copies and you will still have a 5 second gap in shield distribution between them but it is better than the alternative.
Emergency Power to Shields: This doubles your survivability. Two copies if possible.
Hazard Emitters: Clears plasma fire and many other debuffs, increases hull resists, and restores hull. A single copy is usually enough.

Other Abilities: Their are many other abilities that are good to use depending on the ship. Torpedo Spread, Auxiliary Power to Structural, Reverse Shield Polarity, Transfer Shield Strength, Eject Warp Plasma, and more. Experiment and see what works best for your particular setup.

A Pair of Example Builds
Fleet Defiant, Tactical Captain
Weapons: 3x Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons, Quantum Torpedo,  3x Disruptor Turrets
Equipment: 3 piece Maco Set
Consoles
Monotamium Alloy,  Neutronium Alloy, Assimilated Module
Emitter Array [-Th][Pla], Zero Point Energy Conduit
5x Disruptor Induction Coil
Boffs
Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Attack Pattern Beta 2, Attack Pattern Beta 3
Tactical Team 1, Torpedo Spread 2, Cannon Rapid Fire 2
Torpedo Spread 1
Emergency Power to Shields 1, Auxiliary to Structure 1
Transfer Shield Strength 1, Hazard Emitters 2
- This build is pure damage. It can tank well enough and the doffs I use help but it shreds NPCs.

Steamrunner, Engineer Captain
Weapons: 4x AntiProton Dual Heavy Cannons, 3x AntiProton Turrets
Equipment: Maco Shield, Assimilated Engine & Deflector
Consoles:
Monotamium Alloy, 2x Neutronium Alloy, Assimilated Module
Emitter Array [+Th][Pla], Zero Point Energy Conduit
4x Antiproton Mag Regulator
Boffs
Tactical Team 1, Cannon Rapid Fire 1, Attack Pattern Beta 2, Attack Pattern Delta 3
Tactical Team 1, Cannon Rapid Fire 1, Attack Pattern Omega 1
Emergency Power to Shield 1, Directed Energy Modulation 1
Eemergency Power to Shield 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1
Hazard Emitters 1
- This build allows me to tank even Tac Cubes while still putting out very high damage. I do not recommend actually using this build directly only as an example of what to use.

Duty Officiers
The sheer amount of variety here on what you can use is amazing. For now though I am simply going to list a handful that I find very useful.
Shield Distribution: Even after nerf these guys have a great chance at a great shield heal.
Conn Officer: Two purples will allow you to run a single Tactical Team and increase the power of your attack patterns. Alternately if your wallet allows they can allow you to use a single AP:O 3 every 30 seconds.
Hazard System: Not a popular choice but I find the extra resistance buff effective.
Technicians: In combination with Auxiliary to Battery this can allow a ship with a single strong Tactical Boff to become a warship.

Additional Resources
The Hilbert PvP Guide has a quick over view on a PvE escort and is in general a great source of information located here

A great thread on the official forums is located here