[Dingocat85]

Originally posted by Pooka:
That makes Emissive armor seem utterly pointless considering it's size, resistance, and a damage threshold of /10/ to start. 10?! Is there a gun that does as little as 10?

Just how many research points do you have? If you have enough, you really should consider upgrading your defenses.
For example:
Level 1 ECM (20%) +
Level 1 Scattering Armor (5%) +
Level 1 Stealth Armor (5%) +
Level 1 Emmisive Armor (10 or less) =
30% defense bonus,
-10 damage from all hits.

Au contraire:
Level 3 ECM (60%) +
Level 3 Scattering Armor (15%) +
Level 3 Stealth Armor (15%) +
Level 3 Emissive Armor (30 or less) =
90% defense bonus
-30 damage from all hits

In summa: Top-level ECM & Armor will give you an additional 60% defensive bonus, and subtract triple the damage

See that 90% defensive bonus? If you put Level Three Scattering, Stealth, and ECM on any ship that has a natural 10% or more defensive bonus, and assuming your enemy doesn't use Combat Sensors, Torpedos, Wave-Motion Guns, or Talismans, that ship will be ***Impossible*** to hit with direct Fire weapons ...all you'd have to worry about is Missiles.

And if you think it couldn't get any better , Upgrading all of that takes research in only two Tech Areas: Armor, and Combat Support.