Mmh, admittedly, all my "somewhat rigorous" tests were in the last version, so maybe some things have improved since then? That was, of course, before the Hydra, but it did yield these rules of thumb:
- always put a single Squall into its own group
- never put a second Squall onto the same AI-controlled ship
- never put weapons with very different projectile speeds into the same group
- only put differently-ranged weapons into the same group, if you are okay with the longer ranged weapons waiting for the shorter ranged weapons (or if the group will Autofire even under AI control)
- avoid putting unguided weapons with non-overlapping arcs into the same group as it encourages the AI to wobble between them
- the AI will override your Autofire rules as it pleases, so they do not matter
The overall AI performance seems to have improved in this version at least a bit, so maybe (hopefully) some of these need re-testing.
Here is a detailed rationale for how I chose the weapon groups in my screenshot:
- Hydra - is the only finisher, must be fired whenever at whatever in range and without shields / close to death
(could have been grouped with other finishers, but I have none) - Squall - will count as "fired" as soon as the first missile flies (for the purpose of both AI chosing to fire another, and for how Alternating Fire Mode works), AI wants to always keep this firing, so can only be grouped with other weapons for which this is true - and I have none => one group
- Storm Needlers - should be linked to maximise burst damage (overload the target as quickly as possible) => one group, Linked mode; only the Squall is another anti-shield weapon but unlike the Squall the needlers should not fire all the time => not grouped with anything else
- Proximity Charge Launcher - like the Squall the AI likes to keep this firing all the time, so it cannot be grouped with anything else (but, I guess, the Squall, but the latter can aim whereas this one cannot... I admittedly have not tried out what would happen, if I put it into the Squall group... from experience with mixed weapon ranges, I'd expect the Squall to not fire until the Proximity Charge Launcher can hit something, which is not what I want to happen here and the reverse would be just as bad)
- Breach SRM Pod - belongs in an anti-armour group... as a guided missile it targets something else than the guns though, so I have not dared to group it with the Phase Lance or Heavy Mortars (but maybe either would actually work fine?)
- Phase Lance - the only dedicated Anti-armour weapon on this ship (Mortars do the right damage type but little damage per projectile and have considerable spread) should shoot at exposed armour of ships at every opportunity => only the mortar group fits (except, quite possibly, the Breach SRM Pod group, see above); it also should not go into the mortar group because its "projectile" hits instantly whereas the mortars have very slow projectiles, so they have to aim at different points to hit the same spot => the mortar group also does not fit
- Mortars - like the Needlers, these should concentrate their fire on a single target => same group, Linked; they should fire after the Needlers, ideally (and at least sometimes the AI correctly acts that way) => not the same group as the Needlers; see above why not the same group as the Phase Lance
(side note: in this battle specifically, all targets for the Garuda are large and sluggish, so here we can get away with it; if that would stop the Lance shoot at fighters, it would even be worth it) - all "regular" PD - should not be grouped with the non-PD weapons, should have active Autofire (and AI will switch Autofire on immediately, if you leave it off in the Refit screen) => group 8
- (hypothetical) Devastator Cannon - has so much damage output that it does not need to share targets with the other PD weapons => group 9
So, there are some optimisation opportunities here, but my point is very much that Weapon Groups
should not be a limited resource that I have to optimise for in the first place.
What if I wanted to build a "punch down" symmetrical Conquest with a different weapon in every non-PD slot? It might potentially need up to 14 groups. Arguably that is an extreme, degenerate example, but following this suggestion, we'd have (originally) 12 groups at our disposal, which is not so bad even then - and with the newer alternative, we might have a "shoot wherever" group without hotkey and need only maybe 4 to 6 "proper" groups.
(Re. Phase Lance shooting at fighters - it is overkill and the Phase Lance is
- slow firing
- flux inefficient
- not the IR Autolance
so if there were no hostile ships around, I would not mind it sniping at strike craft at all - nor would I mind the Heavy Mortars try their luck in that case. But as soon as a "real" target is in the vicinity, even if not yet in range proper, I want the thing to stay ready to fire
at that target, rather than waste cooldown and flux swatting flies with a sledgehammer.)
FWIW: I attached another screenshot of the groups that had won me the scenario in the meanwhile.