[dogscoff]

Don't really know about early/ mid/ late distinctions, but I would have to say I like the following best:

meson bLaster: Small enough to fill gaps in ship design, cheap to research, high damage/kt score.

ripper beam: (On those rare occasions I can find a way to get into range=-) Greatly scorned, but it does have the highest damage/ kt out there.

null space: Big, Green, elmulsification machine. Just love that shield-skippin', armour-piercin' soup-maker. The slow reload is a problem, but pack some backup weaponry and hope you take out the shield generators on the first hit.