I tried overpowering Onslaught's shields with three Tachyon Lances. Even with help from High-Energy Focus, that did not work. At best, they barely overpowered the shield for scratch damage. (Also, the range advantage is small. If I stray into Onslaught TPC range, shield takes hits, and Odyssey must vent, wasting time.) What works better is wait until Onslaught drops shield, then fire Tachyon Lances off to the side and clip the Onslaught before it raises shields fully. That works until Onslaught is almost dead, it will keep shields up always, and overpowering shields without hard flux takes too long.
Tachyon Lances (and Mjolnir) are rare enough that I generally only have enough to fully outfit one capital with them by endgame. (If I am not commissioned with Tri-Tachyon, I can only get them by looting enemy Paragons.) Often times, I must use High Intensity Laser as a substitute.
If I try to fight another capital head-on with shorter-ranged weaponry (i.e., everything aside from 1000 range beams), even against a Conquest, Odyssey gets pounded into the ground, unless Claw (or Thunder) wings paralyze the enemy first.
Except for Odyssey, all capitals can go toe-to-toe against each other and have a chance to win. Some, like Legion and Conquest, have a harder time against Paragon, but it is doable. Odyssey needs to rely on cheese for a slim chance to win.
I do not want Odyssey to be pigeonholed into Tachyon Lance sniper boat because it lacks the defenses to slug it out like every other capital, even against less powerful ones like Conquest or Legion.
Odyssey is "not a brawler". That is a problem. High-Energy Focus is a brawler ship system. If it cannot brawl, what can it do? Legion and Astral are better carriers than Odyssey.