All ships have equipment paperdolls, which give captains the chance to outfit their ships however they like. On a ship’s paperdoll is its fore and aft weapons, its deflector, its shields and its impulse engine. As players advance through the game, they’ll be able to acquire better items to equip to their ships.
Certain items are restricted to the type of ship. For instance, only Escorts can equip cannons, which offer a high damage yield.
The way a player outfits his ship can alter the way a ship plays. Loading nothing but photon torpedoes on a ship, while likely not an ideal configuration, will make a ship very effective at taking out an opponent’s hull, but not have much effect on the opponent’s shields. Additionally, there’s nothing stopping a captain from using disruptors rather than phasers on his ship. And different types of weapons deal damage in different ways. Phasers are designed to take out an opponent’s shields and subsystems. On the other hand, disruptors are built to deal great amounts of damage.
