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[Embolism]

The charge mechanic for certain ship systems works well for immediate effects (e.g. Phase Skimmer), but IMO feels weird for continuous effects like High Energy Focus and Damper Field: it can last too long for what you need it for, or deactivate at an inopportune moment.

What if these became them toggled effects like Fortress Shield, but with a charge bar that depletes continuously when in use and recharges when not?

This will of course allow "flickering" (which is part of the goal, I suppose) to get the most out of your charge. There could be a small cooldown after deactivation during which the charge bar doesn't regenerate to prevent abuse.

[Megas]

When the game was Starfarer, High Energy Focus used to be a toggle, but otherwise unlimited.  When toggled on, HEF grants +50% damage but disabled shields.  I think it was deemed unbalanced, either you kite-and-sniped and no shields was not a drawback, or you got close and got clobbered.

Back then, the main advantage of energy weapons was unlimited ammo, because ballistics had limited ammo.  It was not until 0.65 that ballistic got unlimited ammo.

HEF today feels like it was designed for Tachyon Lance.  You press HEF, fire a lance, and you are done.

[TaLaR]

Not just TL, it syncs with Autopulse and Plasma well enough. I don't see a reason to complicate HEF - it's typical use scenario wouldn't change much, except you'd need to remember to disable it during weapon reload.

Damper field would definitely welcome such change, since predictable fixed duration is a huge weakness for defensive ability. Currently, enemy is free to vent while your Damper is active (to be more precise, Mora can complicate it a bit with fighters, but Damper frigates are useless).