I agree.. PPB's are way too easy to research now. PPB V costs only 150k+137.5k=287.5k
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And it's one of the best beam weapons in the game, even without it's shield skipping ability. Forexample: Anti Proton Beam XII costs 50k+1627.5k=1677.5k=1677500 research points. Meson BLaster VI costs 50k+460k=510k and its clearly inferior to PPB V...