I happen to think there are many many exceptionally strong Gallente ships that are not only viable for pvp, but best in class! Here are a summary of all the ships I consider to be best in their class.
Frigate - Tristan: With neuts, blasters, rails, autocannons, pulse lasers… this ship is an unpredictable monster. It used to be seen more in FW space, but now everyone knows to run from them and they get fewer fights. Honorable mention to the Atron as best attack frigate.
Faction Frigate - Comet: Do I even need to say anything? This ship is the undisputed king of FW.
Destroyer - Algos: I prefer it over the Dragoon for its sweet hull HP pool. In fact, that hull HP pool is why so many of the Gallente ships are amazing, especially in the small ship class.
Tactical Destroyer - Hecate: The most common T3D for a reason, this thing hits just SO HARD! It has the range control to make it work, too!
Cruiser - Vexor: Another absolute beast in solo and fleet settings. Blasters coupled with big drone damage and either a strong armor tank or a decent shield buffer make the Vexor a fearsome target. The only reason why it isn’t used as much is because it is less engageable than something like a Stabber.
Faction Cruiser - Exeq Navy: Need I say more? Blastaaaaa powerhouse!
Recon/Force Recon - Arazu and Lachesis make premiere tackle ships in black ops or recon gangs. The Arazu is far more common than any other recon for dropping Blops or capitals.
Battlecruiser - Brutix: Cheap, sturdy, hits like a truck.
Navy Battlecruiser: Brutix Navy: Sturdier, faster, hit-like-a-truckier.
Command Ship - Astarte: A fantastic small gang railgun platform and the king of the true kiting Battlecruisers. Watch out for these in high octane roaming groups. Basically fear every Brutix hull because they are all around best in class.
Battleship - Hyperion: It’s called the King of Battleships for a reason. No other T1 subcapital can match its insane staying power. It hits like a truck, tanks unreal amounts of damage, and has 2 utility highs! What!
Marauder - Kronos: With the recent nerf to the Vargur, the Kronos is now the most feared Marauder. It is strong with both shield and armor setups, like a massive Ishtar.
Lancer Dreadnought - Hubris: I have no idea why people use it, I can’t wrap my head around the things. From what I see, people use Hubris a lot for smaller drops and gatecamps. The Bane seems to be the one for larger drops, but I see lone Hubrises quite often around hotbed lowsec areas like Amamake and Tama. Why do both of the hot lowsec systems in eve have “…ama…” in them?
Supercarrier - Nyx: Because it is an armor super with a fighter damage bonus, the Nyx will probably always be on top of all supercarriers in terms of popularity. Probably more of these in the game than Wyverns, Aeons, and maybe even Hels combined. Undisputed best in class.
Don’t fly the Erebus. It’s garbage.
I debated putting: Magus, Thanatos, Ishtar, Dominix Navy, Catalyst Navy, and Deimos in here, but…
Magus is outshone by the Bifrost in many situations. I do count it as far better than the slow Stork and Pontifex though.
Thanatos was long the king of carriers, but Nidhoggur is just better for conduit jumping as it aligns faster and is shield tanked.
Ishtar is used a lot, but it’s mainly PvE ships people have lying around. PvP Ishtars, when they do appear, are extremely scary.
Domi Navy is one of the best solo faction battleships, but it is not used as much as the Tempest Fleet or Raven Navy, from what I’ve seen.
Cat Navy is very well balanced and is probably the strongest faction destroyer in pure stats. It, however, suffers from having very little versatility. It’s always fit with blasters, MWD scram web, damage control, magstab, hull rigs. The only variability I see is whether they fit a 400mm plate or a Small Ancillary Armor Repairer.
Deimos is a very niche ship. It responds fantastically to bling but is hard to extract for a cruiser. People use the Vagabond and Cerberus more for response fleets because the Vaga is faster and the Cerb has good damage at longer range.
Enjoy yourself, have fun flying Gallente!