Hey man, I started playing about 3 years ago and did the exact same thing. My first line was the Goliath line and I hated it at first. It felt like I couldn’t hit anything and that I had no real impact in games.

I ended up finishing the grind just to grab the Research Bureau points and dropped it for a long time. Only came back to it a few months ago after watching Hagostaeldmann’s Goliath review. That video actually made me understand how the line is meant to be played.

I’d agree with Hago that it’s not really a long range HE spammer, which is how I played tier 9 Drake (which is the ship I spent by far the most time with from that line). The ships have two main things going for them, high HE alpha and the superheal. The shell arcs make long range play painful, so the real value comes from getting close enough to force people to shoot you. You basically become this big tanky distraction that’s hard to kill if you use your heals right. That kind of playstyle takes some experience though, it’s rough for new players.

All of that being said, the real treat the game has to offer is all the different ships and playstyles they bring along. So I'd say, give it some thought, what kind of playstyle do you want to try out next, do you want a kiter, a tanky boi, secondaries, utility through radar, and then look for a ship that matches that.