Sorry all, but Phase Lances are both amazing anti-fighter and excellent anti-armor/hull, and are significantly better than heavy burst lasers at anti fighter. They won't protect against missiles at all, but thats a different game.
1) Phase lances have better sustained damage - 217 vs 73. If you are swarmed by fighters than heavy burst lasers are big disappointments.
2) Phase lances are more flux efficient than heavy burst lasers at 1.2 f/d as opposed to 1.36f/d.
3) Phase lances have better alpha, firing their whole 1250 damage at first contact. The 5 charges of a heavy burst PD do 735 damage, IE: an entire clip of heavy burst laser will not kill a broadsword (probably will with skills).
4) Phase lances do not become confused by flares.
5) Phase lances have better armor penetration: 1000 beam dps vs 400 beam dps. Only matter for the toughest of fighters, but it also lets phase lances be effective against cruiser armor. As an example, phase lances against a fresh broadsword do 83% damage (on first calculation), while heavy burst pd does 67% damage (on first calculation).
Overall: for anti-fighter, phase lances are many times better than heavy burst pd.
Vs tactical lasers: Different slots so the comparison is harder, but:
0) Tactical lasers use small slots, which are much more plentiful. You can use both tactical lasers and phase lances.
1) Tactical lasers are more flux efficient: 1:1 vs 1: 1.2.
2) Tactical lasers struggle against heavily armored enemies because their effective dps for armor penetration is only 37.5. Against a Broadsword their damage is initially reduced to only 27% of normal! A phase lance kills a broadsword or warthog in one burst.
3) Tactical lasers are fine against shielded fighters when massed, so as long as you have 2 or 3 on the same target its ok. The fighter's dissipation reduces damage done though, while a phase lance burst will instantly overload and destroy.
4) Tactical lasers have better range, so can interdict enemy fighters much further away. This is especially nice for frigates that can somewhat kite the fighters.
5) Phase lances have much better alpha, allowing you to instantly blunt the impact of a fighter attack.
6) Dps is roughly 2.9:1 phase lance:tactical laser. This matches the OP cost fairly well.
Overall: different tactical profiles. Tactical lasers are better for creating a huge zone where fighters don't want to be and will slowly be killed, and only take small slots. Phase lances create a smaller zone where the leading fighters are instantly killed, and offers rough dps/OP parity. Against low tech (heavy armor) fighters, phase lances are superior, while for creating a big fleetwide anti-fighter screen tactical lasers are superior. Luckily a fleet can have both.
