What's is the point of certain weapons in SE:IV?

[PvK]

Black_Knyght said:
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It seems like their are really only three viable weapons systems: Anti-Proton Beams , Capital Ship Missiles , and Point-Defense Systems .

While I'm sure there are those who will heartily disagree, and while admittedly organic,crystalline, and psychic systems exist that rival or exceed theses systems, realistically they are the only effective standard weapons available.

Most others just offer an interesting combination of imaginative, though secondary , weaponry. If you really want to stand a chance, you either rely on the basics, or you shoot for extreme systems that kill stars or planets.

IMHO, No really viable middle ground....

I think that's slightly overstated, though there are several weapons which do seem more or less to have no effective niche at all. Some players have argued that Torpedoes and Graviton Hellbores have a niche for doing more damage in an initial volley, but they have so little advantage there, if any, that few seem to agree or bother with them.

You didn't mention Shield Depleters, which are one of the best weapons unless your enemy uses no shields at all. Warp Weapons and Ionic weapons can also have decisive effects.

In a mid-tech-level war, Phased Polaron Beams are very good before people develop phased shields. I tend to even stop at level 2 and research other things, because the range is as good as the highest level, and the damage-to-cost ration is better.

I have also found niches for Meson Blasters in the unmodded game, again being lower tech, and sometimes being limited to range 6 is an advantage depending on the combat modifiers between empires.

As others have mentioned, Wave Motion Guns and Ripper Beams have some niches, and Computer Virus are valuable.

Many mods greatly improve on all of this, of course.

PvK

P.S. The weapon imbalances have been I mentioned to Malfador since the initial beta, and many improvements were made over the years, but many others remain.