I disagree completely. All crossover does is make things universally bland. As I said earlier, there ought to be an appreciable difference between ballistics, missiles, and beams-- a SIGNIFICANT appreciable difference. It shouldn't just be a palette swap of pew pew for blam blam or vice versa.
And like you, I want to keep unique traits for different weapon types! Adding just one or two high-explosive energy weapons wouldn't make ballistic weapons obsolete, or make them blend together.
General traits for energy weapons:
- Quick/instant projectiles
- Low DPS/flux ratio
- Above average flux costs
- Medium to high range (this trait has the most variation)
- Infinite ammo
- Either continuous fire or a long recharge
- Damage dealt to shields can be vented without lowering shields
General traits for ballistic weapons:
- Medium-slow to medium-fast projectiles
- Medium-high DPS/flux ratio
- Low flux costs (except for HE weapons)
- Low to medium range (again, this trait has the most outliers)
- Limited ammo (even machine guns use all 999 rounds in a couple minutes)
- Slow automatic fire or burst fire, (exempting small PD weapons)
And, for the heck of it:
General traits for missile weapons:
- Slow to medium-slow projectiles
- Minuscule flux costs, if any
- Medium to extreme range
-
Very limited ammo
- Either slow firing (I consider 1/sec to be slow for a weapon) or
very, very slow firing
My point is that each weapon type has traits that allow it to be unique, while filling varying roles. One example would be a ship with Graviton Beams versus a ship with Autocannons, or Sabot SRM Launchers. Each setup is tailored to a different style of fighting, yet each weapon deals the same type of damage. The Graviton Beams are great anti-strafing weapons, overloading and suppressing agile frigates. The Autocannons encourage persistent attacks to overload shields, more suited to bigger destroyers and cruisers picking on ships of their own size. And, the Sabot SRM Launchers quickly overload shields, complementing strike weapons on heavier Frigates and lighter Destroyers, as they attack larger targets then themselves.