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[BillyRueben]

One of the biggest reasons I don't use PD ships in this game is that I feel that they are severely hampered from doing their job. I would love to have a couple of PD Wolves escorting my ship and keeping the fighters off, but all of their weaponry (save swarmers) is rendered useless because of my ship being "in the way". If it were possible to have PD (and beam weaponry) pass through/over/under friendly ships, it would help PD and beams be the support weaponry they need to be now that fighters are so crazy.

[Deshara]

could be a hullmod

[Morbo513]

I think it makes sense. It could be a hullmod, it could be skill-related, or it could be default behaviour. It'd make point-defences worthwhile for frigate swarms too, right now they barely help the ship they belong to, never mind its wingmen.

[Megas]

For PD, most of the effective smaller ones (Vulcan, burst PD, maybe flak) have short enough range for passthrough to be moot.  Most of the long-range PD (beams) is too weak (and too flux intensive in case of LR PD laser) unless there are multiple ships stacking beams in a crossfire.

If it is any beam, that can be abusive with the heavy beams (i.e., HIL and Tachyon Lance), especially with Paragon hiding behind a wall of ships.  Paragon with Tachyon Lances is a vicious sniper.

Also, Devastator is treated as PD, and it is a decent PD and assault weapon in one package.  It brutalizes unshielded ships when attacker is close.

[BillyRueben]

For PD, most of the effective smaller ones (Vulcan, burst PD, maybe flak) have short enough range for passthrough to be moot.  Most of the long-range PD (beams) is too weak (and too flux intensive in case of LR PD laser) unless there are multiple ships stacking beams in a crossfire.

Not so much worried about the short range stuff passing through allied ships. Rather, I'd like for PD (flak especially) to be able to effectively track fast moving fighters that pass over ships.

If it is any beam, that can be abusive with the heavy beams (i.e., HIL and Tachyon Lance), especially with Paragon hiding behind a wall of ships.  Paragon with Tachyon Lances is a vicious sniper.

I feel like most of the time the AI is the one that suffers here, since their own ships continually block their long range beams for firing at me.

Also, Devastator is treated as PD, and it is a decent PD and assault weapon in one package.  It brutalizes unshielded ships when attacker is close.

Could just be me, but again, I don't see the AI Dominator ships firing their Devastators because of the AI's current habit of clumping up.

[Alex]

I've thought about this a couple of times and even tried it a while back - for me, it always come down to beams overlapping ships just not looking good. More than that, really, I think it messes with the overall feel of the game; ships start to feel less solid, it looks a lot messier, etc. So mechanically it might work and be a good idea, but I think the price is too high.

[Megas]

@ BillyRueben:  I was more like thinking of Legion or Conquest (EDIT: and maybe Onslaught too if limited to single flak due to availability).  Two flaks are not enough to stop all of the Squalls coming from enemy capitals and/or all of the bombers from an Astral, but flaks backed up by Devastator work wonders stopping many of them.

Dominators probably want to stick with Mark IX autocannon or other longer-ranged assault weapons, unless they have Safety Override, then Devastators appear much more attractive due to being flux efficient and most shots exploding at about 450 range instead of all over the place.

[Gothars]

I'd like some ways to specialize ships more towards PD. Maybe the PD AI mod could also increase the range of small PD mounts (for an increase in OP cost?).

[Megas]

No.  It is already OP intensive (and flux intensive for non-beams) to use IPDAI with the three weapons suitable for it (Tac Laser, Railgun, IR Pulse Laser).

Also, IPDAI is unlikely to be found for some playthroughs.  It is about as rare as Converted Hangar (and locked behind commission).

LR PD would be alright if it either had more power or less flux cost.  I occasionally use it due to lack of IPDAI on a few ships, but I use it more as a more common weaker but faster Tac Laser substitute than as a PD weapon.

[BillyRueben]

...for me, it always come down to beams overlapping ships just not looking good.

Fair enough. Bummer.

@ BillyRueben:  I was more like thinking of Legion or Conquest (EDIT: and maybe Onslaught too if limited to single flak due to availability).  Two flaks are not enough to stop all of the Squalls coming from enemy capitals and/or all of the bombers from an Astral, but flaks backed up by Devastator work wonders stopping many of them.

It would be an awesome weapon with the added benefit of being able to fire regardless of what was in front of it. It can be unbelievably frustrating to see a bomber wave hit your ship because the Devastator didn't fire because of friendly fire issues.

I'd like some ways to specialize ships more towards PD. Maybe the PD AI mod could also increase the range of small PD mounts (for an increase in OP cost?).

It would be really cool if PDAI would make your PD "smarter", so that PD and LRPD wouldn't fire at stuff like bombs and flares and would focus instead on fighters.

[Gothars]

It would be really cool if PDAI would make your PD "smarter", so that PD and LRPD wouldn't fire at stuff like bombs and flares and would focus instead on fighters.

Good idea! Then you'd have a reason to use it even with normal PD, and on pure PD ships. But does the game currently have a way to differentiate between real a fake PD threats?

[BillyRueben]

I'm not quite hip on the modding side of the game, but I think there is a "fighter only" tag out there somewhere for small weapons and PD.

EDIT: Which of course would make PD useless against threats you would still want it to target, like harpoons and torpedoes.

[Deshara]

I still maintain that PD weapons should be able to fire over friendly ships if their target is over that ship, since ships with mounts capable of firing into their own sprite is basically zero

[Morbo513]

I still maintain that PD weapons should be able to fire over friendly ships if their target is over that ship, since ships with mounts capable of firing into their own sprite is basically zero

Yeah, one of the most aggravating thing about fighters and drones is their tendency to overfly shields and be untouchable while they do so for fear of friendly fire