How to fly faster - Diplomatic Immunity

So, I like the Tour the Galaxy mission because I get some EC and can do some assignments from various corners of the galaxy :)
I'd like to fly faster so I aim at the MACO set doing Borg and Omega marks stuff right now. I guess a good Warp Coil will give a boost too.
The three questions I have:
1. Is there anything else I can do to make my ship faster in Secotr Space?
2. Is there a way to reduce the cooldown time for QSD? I think it's two minutes for me right now;
3. There is this ability "Grant Diplomatic Immunity" but I realised I will be able to GRANT immunity, I won't HAVE it. How can I ask someone to grant it to me and how does it work? Let's say, I'm in Sector Space and... what then?

I hope there wasn't any thread like that and the possible answers will be of use for other players :)

I've found that either the MACO or Assimilated Borg Set make for the fastest ships for this mission, I do it a lot too.

I also found that using the Obelisk Subspace Rift warp core helps as it reduces your cooldown for QSD to 1 minute. ;)

Okay. I have an Obelisk Carrier (not an Advanced one) but it's not equiped with anything special. How can I get this Subspace Rift Warp Core? Can't find it on Exchange. Lobi crystals?
Can I then equip the Obelisk Carrier with the Warp Core, the Borg set and just change ships whenever I do the Tour the Galaxy?

The Obelisk warp core is a reward from completing the 'Sphere of Influence' mission. So you don't have to pay for it! :)

I've used all sorts of ships for that mission, including the Jem'Hadar dreadnaught. I've equipped either of those sets and it's been fine. Honestly with those, I've not needed the Obelisk warp core to finish the whole mission, in some cases with a minute or two to spare.

Do you have a set path to follow? I've created little maps, I can post them if you like. :)

Give me some time and I can give you a breakdown of everything I do to increase my speed. It was superb for the old Tour. The new tour is well, not as friendly. The timer is tight, but manageable if you make the same/similar modifications.

One thing I will highlight now though, you do not get any EC bonus from completing the tour. It is paid in sector blocks so if you fall short of one block you are not losing a great deal of EC. Essentially one purple XI Impulse/Deflector/Shield is the equivalent EC!

The only boost you get for completing a FULL tour is an accolade and a decrease in your transwarp cooldown. (On a side note to that... the lowest you can reduce the transwarp cooldown with all the various methods is 4 minutes 15 seconds) so if your cooldown is already just over 4 minutes then it may appear like you didnt get this perk!

For maximum speed you want to use a vesta with its improve slipstream speed and duration, borg engines, diplomatic immunity and any other buffs to driver coil you can manage.

Oh my, thanks for all the replies!
Well, I did the Sphere of Influence but I don't have the Warp core. I might have sold it, I can't remember..
I hope having a fast ship is of high value not only for the Tour the Galaxy mission ;)

The vesta line of ships cannot be beaten for sector space speed, add in the solanae warp core for subspace fold and borg engines and you have the fastest sector space ship in game.

It just so happens that the vesta line of ships are still the top end science ships in game for performance also so your just spending money just on something to travel quickly :P

*edit* i forgot to add to get the slipstream bonus for the vestas you need the 2 set bonus from the consoles and as such you should buy the bundle and not just one of the 3 ships.

Quote by Finka

Oh my, thanks for all the replies!
Well, I did the Sphere of Influence but I don't have the Warp core. I might have sold it, I can't remember..
I hope having a fast ship is of high value not only for the Tour the Galaxy mission ;)

You can re-do the mission and select the warp core. There are multiple rewards so you may have just selected something else the first time. :)

Well, I'm a poor student :D This means I won't spend real money on in-game items.. Right now ;) But I hope someone who does spend money will profit from what you've written!

As requested, here are the galaxy maps that I use when I do the mission. KDF is slightly different than Fed of course. :)

Using the Odyssey (if you have one) grants you a full minute of slipstream instead of the standard 30 sec.

Always check for warp cores that grant: driver coil bonus, SS speed bonus, SS cooldown

And you can active duty the doff that cools down transwarp, beats backtracking.

Thanks for the hint with the DOff, I have to check if I have one like that.
I just reached T4 in Omega, so I'm getting closer to my new engine :D

Quote by Finka

Thanks for the hint with the DOff, I have to check if I have one like that.
I just reached T4 in Omega, so I'm getting closer to my new engine :D

A [Astrometrics Scientist] will decrease your transwarp cool down by 200%. I keep one active cause it makes moving about so much quicker with Diplomacy Tier 4. :)

Although a purple does it at 200% a blue is 150% and a lot lot cheaper! I suggest blue as there are other things you can do to decrease the time alongside that which makes getting a purple a bit pointless for the cost difference :)

Completing a full tour gives you an accolade with a decrease in the cooldown so along with the blue doff you would achieve the same reduction :)

Gwystoei is just 12k dilithium from the Duty Officer store or free if you pick him as your doff for Tier 4 Science Commendation. And Rekim Fel is free with a Critical Success on Support Hromi Cluster Colonization Efforts.

Oh myy, this is all so helpful! Thank you so much