Many things. Key items are making sure you have Reverse Shield Polarity on your bar, you need some GTFO buttons, e.g. the temporal primary specialisation will give you continuity, you can get the DPRM console, you can get the invincible trait. There are other traits and space rep traits that can give bonus defense (bonus = cat 2 defense, ie it scales on top of all other buffs). Basically learn the game, study everything, and as i keep saying, study the builds on the site, you will start to see a pattern, what item/s do all ship builds share, these will be critical for survival or damage, e.g. DPRM console (but it's pricey for a Fed).

Sounds good. Note you should build to what you want, the fleet doesn't need any particular builds as just about all content can be done by any build type. I would suggest that if you want to take part in something like Battle of Korfez then the Constable Specialisation is critical. In addition, ability to take threat is important for your MRP scores and helps those in groups with lower ability to take threat.

Ok so at this stage your build is not that important. We advise people to start looking at their build seriously when you get to T5 in reps and Level 65 in the character, that way you can avoid buying stuff you later find you don't need. I'll just say again though that the turret build is sub-optimal and firing arc is over rated, in the majority of team events you will be someone with control, so forward facing is fine, if you are solo the content is so easy on normal and advanced difficulty that just about any build will do, on elite it has to be better but not that much. Again, it's down to choosing your preferred build type, the usual builds are cannon, beam overload, fire at will, EPG Sci and pet spam carrier builds as well as Torp boats, all those are viable at elite end game, turrets do not feature other than as aft weapons and part of sets for bonuses.

I would ask first of all why a turret build? They have been proven to be pretty useless when it comes to overall DPS, they just do not provide enough fire power, they can look fun with the right turrets but that's all it is, a fun build. Take a look at the builds section of the website to get some ideas. Regarding the rest of your gear (bar devices) these are just loot items you pick up along the way and will get you to 65 when you can start working on the reputation gear. The deflector is good, I'm afraid none of the universal consoles do much when it comes to damage or protection, they are just gimmicks, again, read up in the builds section, see what others are using on different types of builds.