Well, after getting my backside handed to me for the fiftieth consecutive time by the IRW Rea (Romulan Warbird you encounter when rescuing the USS Nobel in Operation Nightingale), I had a major redo of my weapons layout. Going for the "Fight fire with fire", I opted for an all out Plasma vs Plasma setup...
I've had the same problem with both the
D'deridex and
Mogai class. My preferred fighting style is "knife fight in a phone booth". I like to get in close, dump an Alpha Strike on a weak shield and then dance away, chuckling evilly. This technique gets you killed here. Both of these classes have enough hull, weapons and buffs, they can soak up your shot and then bust yo' butt with a spread of Plasma torps. They also like tractor beams. A lot. They like to garnish the tractor beam with a generous helping of Plasma torps.
Developed a jousting technique for my escort to deal with Ddexes. Guidelines are:
Defense
1) Stay at least 5 to 8 clicks away. Always add in some vertical separation as well.
2) Watch their heading and always place yourself on a course which moves you parallel to either a side or rear. Never move on a straight line longer than about three seconds or so.
3) When they launch a spread of Plasma torps, discretion is the
only part part of valor. Run away. Run away very fast. You don't have the Hull strength to withstand that kind of attack and survive. Plasma Torps fade out when you get to about 12 to 14 klicks out from the Ddex.
Offense
1) Use Alpha Strikes only. Line up and go straight in to the flank. Make sure you have every buff you have available applied to your weapons. Before you go in. Make sure the buffs are not going to be in a cooldown mode before you pull the tirgger.
2) Attack from a flank. This way the Ddex can only target you with beams, since torps usually have a max FOF of 90 degrees.
3) Shoot
once. Then turn away on an outbound course different from the your attack course. If you insist on shooting a second time, the Ddex
will turn enough to launch torps. You are too deep inside his engagement envelope to escape
all of them.
General
1) Apply your shield and hull buffs every time they are available. Even when you do not have to.
2) Jam Sensors works. Use it. If you do not have it, get it.
3) Be prepared to be engaged for awhile. Ddexes are big targets and they are not prone to the "one shot, one kill" syndrome.
These have worked for me in
Relentless, my Akira class Heavy Escort. Not every time, but more often than not. Please remember STO scales up the PvE enemies every time you get promoted or get better weapons, so the challenge remains the same. As to quantums vs. photons, quantums are slower. Mk XII quantums do more damage than Mk I quantums. But Quantum Torpedoes
sound much scarier than Photon Torpedoes. As a result they are harder to find as well as much more expensive on the Exchange. Plasma Torps will work just fine for what you want. Uncommon Quality weapons are good enough if they are used correctly. My preferred Plasma Torps are the ones with the (Dmg) suffix. All the other suffixes are things which
might happen to the target but usually do not. Used well, Unommon weapons are the equal of Very Rare.
My rear weapon slots are occupied by a Turret and a Torp which is the same as my front facing one. The turret eliminates my no fire zones and works nicely against fighters. It does pffft for damage. Even 'pfft' damage is better than no damage at all. The torp gives me a "stinger' as I am outbound from the engagement area. I have let Terran frigates "run me down" and then launched a torp as a "down the throat shot".
Pour encourager les autres, lol.
Hope this helps.