I knew I would have to bring up the current phase ship AI eventually, but I wanted to do some testing first with how the phase ship AI fares against a few weapon loadouts. So, here's my early findings, coupled with a video that demonstrates how poorly the phase ship AI fares against certain loadouts:
(I chose the Assault Radiant variant for this demonstration specifically because it only has 4 Autopulses and 1 Plasma for its forward-facing energy weapons, and its Typhoon Reapers, which would otherwise scare the Doom into phasing if those came near, can be easily shot down by the IPDAI-boosted Burst PDs. Also, with the lack of offensive, ammo-limited, and high-flux weapons, the modified Support Doom variant won't attempt to phase solely to recharge weapons faster -- even if it probably should with its Needlers. And before anyone asks, this Doom piloted by ship AI will obviously always die in a 1v1 against a Radiant; this is just to see how long the Doom survives against the Radiant)
As shown in the video, the phase ship AI seems to decide whether to phase against certain projectiles based on both the projectile damage AND the phase ship's maximum hull HP. A Doom with Reinforced Bulkhead (RB) will happily eat both Autopulse and Plasma projectiles until it reaches critically low hull, while a Doom without RB will actually use its phase to avoid the Plasma shots -- but not the quad Autopulse burst, of course. Weirdly, adding Heavy Armor and/or Armored Weapon Mounts does not seem to influence the Doom AI at all against the Assault Radiant variant; the presence of RB alone dictates whether the Doom will phase against Plasma shots or not. This behavior seems completely counter-intuitive to how I expected phase ship AI to work; I assumed the phase ship AI would also account for its current armor status and the amount of incoming projectiles when deciding to phase, but it seems that hull HP apparently matters more for the AI than those factors.
I also briefly tested other phase ships against other weapon choices and loadouts. With the Harbinger (one of the reasons I decided to do these tests; watching Harbingers sometimes take on a full quintuple Autopulse burst from a Radiant was painful to watch), they consistently phase against Plasma shots, regardless of whether the Harbinger had RB or not. Unfortunately, Harbingers will still eat entire Autopulse and Ion Pulser bursts, so the phase ship AI makes them suffer as well in that regard. The phase frigates, Afflictor and Shade, do consistently phase on Autopulses and Ion Pulsers. However, these frigates will also refuse to use their phase defensively if sent against a Radiant equipped with only Ion Cannons or IR Pulse lasers, happily taking on a constant stream of energy and EMP damage until their hull HP becomes too low.
From the brief testing I've done, I'd say that the phase ship AI could use a bit more work, especially with rapid-fire or burst weapons fooling phase ships into not phasing due to their "low damage". How that can be accomplished -- especially when considering officer skills, fleet dynamics, and other weapons and ship systems -- is certainly another story, but I figure showing that it can be a problem is a good start.
