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[ArthropodOfDoom]

What do you guys think is the best PD? When I started playing, I only used LR PD, assuming the range was worth it. After further calculation and general thought, I have determined that the  regular PD laser is better due to higher DPS. Unfortunately, the DPS does not make up for the lack of range, and I was wondering if there were any good quality PD weapons that can keep it together in the thick of a battle and keep you reasonably protected. I am not fond of the burst lasers for precisely this reason, as they have to wait a short period before they can fire again.

[Flare]

Flak, there is no substitute.

[stonehand]

i like tactic lazers with the pd ai on my cap ships not greated for the big missiles but owns fighters and really turns your pd into a much higher dps vs other ships on the biggets ship i think i'm using 7-9 of them so if you replace the 8 point ones with tactic and the pd ai you almost save op manly i just love the cant miss and the tental effect and the long range.

[Kommodore Krieg]

Flak, there is no substitute.

Agreed. 

[arwan]

Flak, there is no substitute.

Agreed. 

i see your flak and i raise you one


dual flak.

[Kommodore Krieg]

Flak, there is no substitute.

Agreed. 

i see your flak and i raise you one


dual flak.

Dual flak is the best by far, but I like to stick with regular flak in most cases because it's cheaper and does a pretty good job on it's own, especially with an integrated targeting unit.  Although I like to put a dual flak on the bow of the Onslaught, it makes it so you can plow into bomber runs and missile barrages without needing to raise shields most of the time.  If you have the OP to spare though you're right dual flak is best.

[Thaago]

If you are piloting ships with ballistics, then flak or dual flak is the way to go. If you only have small mounts than machine guns aren't bad as long as you have veteran or elite crew. Whether its worth double the OP to upgrade to dual MG's is up to you - I'm torn on it.

For energy point defense: regular PD with advanced optics is, at least imo, by far the best. Tactical lasers with the ai targeting gives you better range, but higher flux and ai targeting is more expensive than advanced optics. (Plus advanced optics helps other weapons). LR PD's don't do enough damage to actually shoot down missiles - might as well leave the slots empty and use the OP for more flux capacity. Burst pd's do the job allright but are kind of wimpy and flux hungry; at 8 points each they just aren't worth it. The medium mount and heavy mount PD just makes me laugh - they are both only moderately effective and a waste of a good weapon slot.

As for missiles... I actually like swarmers if fighters are giving me problems. You get a nice chunk of ammo and at the very least it distracts and wards off the enemies so you can defeat them in detail.

[Doom101]

on smaller ships machine gun fire seems to do damned well but my absolute favorite are Scatter PD lasers from the junk pirates mod. For those of you unaware it is essentially a short range energy machinegun the range is very small but even without the targeting AI they tend to do a great job at shooting down anything short of reapers but if you can't dodge a reaper try shields XD unless your engines are down in which case not your fault.

[Kommodore Krieg]

If you are piloting ships with ballistics, then flak or dual flak is the way to go. If you only have small mounts than machine guns aren't bad as long as you have veteran or elite crew. Whether its worth double the OP to upgrade to dual MG's is up to you - I'm torn on it.

For energy point defense: regular PD with advanced optics is, at least imo, by far the best. Tactical lasers with the ai targeting gives you better range, but higher flux and ai targeting is more expensive than advanced optics. (Plus advanced optics helps other weapons). LR PD's don't do enough damage to actually shoot down missiles - might as well leave the slots empty and use the OP for more flux capacity. Burst pd's do the job allright but are kind of wimpy and flux hungry; at 8 points each they just aren't worth it. The medium mount and heavy mount PD just makes me laugh - they are both only moderately effective and a waste of a good weapon slot.

As for missiles... I actually like swarmers if fighters are giving me problems. You get a nice chunk of ammo and at the very least it distracts and wards off the enemies so you can defeat them in detail.

For small ballistic PD I like vulcan cannons.  I never liked machine guns but maybe I'll give them another shot.  I always found machine guns were never able to hit the missile if it came in at any direction other than head on, but vulcans sometimes can due to their insane fire rate.  I always find myself going for flaks though, and using the small mounts for railguns or assault guns.  

[Dark.Revenant]

The best kind of PD is a Wasp wing on escort duty and some decent engines.

[TJJ]

i like tactic lazers with the pd ai on my cap ships not greated for the big missiles but owns fighters and really turns your pd into a much higher dps vs other ships on the biggets ship i think i'm using 7-9 of them so if you replace the 8 point ones with tactic and the pd ai you almost save op manly i just love the cant miss and the tental effect and the long range.

That's how I setup my Odyssey; tactical in all small mounts, Tachyon in the large, advanced optics, AI targetting & turret gyros. It's a lethal ship.

[Iscariot]

i like tactic lazers with the pd ai on my cap ships not greated for the big missiles but owns fighters and really turns your pd into a much higher dps vs other ships on the biggets ship i think i'm using 7-9 of them so if you replace the 8 point ones with tactic and the pd ai you almost save op manly i just love the cant miss and the tental effect and the long range.

That's how I setup my Odyssey; tactical in all small mounts, Tachyon in the large, advanced optics, AI targetting & turret gyros. It's a lethal ship.

Great for zoning out the enemy, certainly. Great for surviving. Not great for capital ship to capital ship warfare. I prefer to run my Odyssey in a similar fashion, and the low DPS of tachyon lances means that it is absolutely GARBAGE at fighting heavier ships. Just means you have to rely on fighters, or other ships.

[Dreyven]

any flak is certainly the best choice for pd only purposes...
machineguns are great because they are kinetic... they can fend off frigates and support against cruisers etc.
energy pd doesn't  make much difference... i use lr pd

to the scatter laser above
this is an insane weapon... put a lot of them on a ship and use it to ram big ships ... they are like shotguns

[Doom101]

any flak is certainly the best choice for pd only purposes...
machineguns are great because they are kinetic... they can fend off frigates and support against cruisers etc.
energy pd doesn't  make much difference... i use lr pd

to the scatter laser above
this is an insane weapon... put a lot of them on a ship and use it to ram big ships ... they are like shotguns

  i have 4 facing forward on my medusa i can park behind pretty much anything and overload its shields in all of 10 seconds only tried it on cruisers so far. but funnily enough when missiles come at my front they always manage to save me except when they are overwhelmed ( mirvs!!!!)

[ClosetGoth]

To bring this discussion back to machine guns and answer an older question, TAKE THE DUAL MG. It offers much more firepower, and the higher and wider spread bullet density makes it damn hard to NOT hit missiles and fighters. Also, the double OP cost is TOTALLY worth it, because the flux costs are negligible, so you can spend your other OP elsewhere, and save weapon slots.

This being said, my favorite PD is ten wings of Talons and ten wings of Piranas . I end up starting my battles with a swarm of Talons (usually ten wings), two of my fastest carriers (usually Concords Condors, because I increased their speed and cost in the csv file, to make them not useless), and a swarm of Piranas (I send them out until I run out of them, even if it means waiting for more points to be captured). Have you ever tried to fire missiles through a wall of swarmers, bombs, and vulcan cannons? And did it end with the missiles getting through?

NOTE: My favorite PD in terms of guns is the Light Dual MG, in case you didn't infer that from the first paragraph.

EDIT: Condors, not Concords