Feedback as promised:
The Templars are well done. They have a consistent and unusual design, and are generally very powerful and fun to use. Priwen Burst is a killer.
The bad...
Templar ships eat too many supplies, and I cannot rely on combat alone to keep them fed and running. At least in Nexerelin, My Templar used Domain ships because they can use Templar weapons to great effect without the crippling supply costs, and I bought supplies from pirates when I could. I would never use an Archbishop, and I would think twice before using a Paladin. The Crusader is the biggest Templar ship I am willing to support in my fleet.
The weapons are overpowered, and can turn some stock ships (like Paragon) into godships once acquired. In the past, I avoided Neutrino because once I mounted two Phased Array Cannons on a Paragon, it became a godship and slaughtered everything with ease. With Knights Templar, all I need to do is arm a Paragon or Paladin with nothing but Rhons and Sentenias and simply watch things die. Despite the quality of Knights Templar, I almost do not want to load the mod because it will devolve into a Rhon and Sentenia (and disruptor) spam-fest once I get them.
Comments on weapons themselves:
The standouts are Rhon laser, Sentenia Assault Cannon, Secace and Galatine disruptors, and Clarents.
Rhon laser is stronger that high intensity laser; not a big deal, I think standard beams are weak in general. However, this weapon is totally sick when combined with IPDAI hullmod. Two or more Rhons can snuff missiles better than Dual Flak Cannons and kill things without strong shields. Its costs are not insignificant, and not all ships can use them effectively, but those that can become almost impervious to missiles and fighters. Without IPDAI, Rhon is still a beam, and I prefer the Merced Cannon for hard flux on shields.
Sentenia Assault Cannon is probably one of the most overpowered weapons I have used in Starsector. Better range and DPS than a blaster, or any stock energy weapon for that matter, and homing! It is so good that I put it on nearly anything with medium or heavy energy weapon slots, and such ships because much, much more powerful. Its only weakness is windup delay. Its OP cost is high but not out-of-sight, and it outperforms all stock medium and (maybe) heavy energy weapons. I take Sentenia over any stock heavy energy weapon or even Templar's Longinus beam any day.
Secace Autocannon and Galatine Heavy Disruptor would be no big deal, except they raise flux on a hit, which makes overloading AI somewhat easy. Galatine is very good; several on a Dominator or Onslaught can and will wreck fleets.
Clarents, while impressive, are too overpriced for what they do. Reapers still outperform them, and for much less OP. They are only good when used by Teuton fighters and you have a carrier to rearm Smiter wings. On Templar ships, I still prefer Reapers or any of the stock regenerating missiles over Clarents.
Heavy Templar weapons are flashy but impractical, and do not outperform their medium counterparts or the best stock weapons enough to make them worth using. Juger Heavy Cannon is a joke - slow, and not very damaging for its cost. Joyeuse Fractal Laser is fun and looks intimidating, but does not outperform the Sentenia enough to make it worth using. Arondight Accelerator is fun, feels like the railgun from the Quake series (minus the hitscan), but it does not seem to outperform alternatives (such as Galatine) enough to make it worth the pain of using it - high OP cost, high flux cost, long windup and recovery delays. I have no problem mounting one on an Onslaught, but firing it costs half my flux bar. I can get nearly as much performance from a Galatine and possibly other heavy weapons. The Clarent MIRV... easy to use, but not worth the OP unlike Hurricane MIRV or Cyclone Reaper.
Summary:
Overall, this is fun to load if I feel like loading a godmod and crushing everything with overpowered weapons. Templars being super strong does not matter if I can steal their weapons and make more accessible ships unstoppable.
Suggestion: Templars should have a destroyer-sized light carrier. Their only carrier being an Archbishop is very painful for a would-be player-controlled Templar fleet.
