Ellysaw is an assault frigate. They are equipped with two light plasma cannons with decent range. They reside in the middle-ground between corvettes and destroyers. Their main use is defending against destroyers, as their range and speed allow them to outmaneuver them, though you need to use them in big numbers to pull that off—which you can do, as you can make two Ellysaws for every destroyer.

However, they get easily destroyed by submarines, against which they have no weapon. They also share destroyers' vulnerability to air units. Try to engage targets from broadside angles, as one turret tends to get blocked by the other when engaging directly fore or aft (ahead or behind).

Ellysaws have a lower cost, but weaker armor and weapons than their Cortex counterpart (Riptide).