[LGM]

But like the Alliegence subverter, this topic has been beaten to death.

At least the subverter has a counter. Master Computers are costly, but they do free up space as well as prefent subVersion. The subverter does not have the greatest range either.

I do not believe there is an adequate counter to the Talisman. Sure there are things you can do differently than you normally would, but none that will let you win with a near equal economy.

The Talisman can make a 1% to hit into 100%. The religious player does not need to train his ships, but it makes him even tougher if he does.
Defense for a Talisman Ship: 20% Racial, 60% ECM III, Ship Training 20%, Fleet Training 20%, Range 50%+(Closing to range 5 is doing quite well), Stealth Armor 15%, Scattering Armor 15%. Such a ship is almost untouchable by direct fire weapons. That is about 200% defense, disregarding $ boundaries at intermediate points of the calculation). To hit it you have the following: Training + 40%, Racial 25%, Culture 10% Beserker, Sensor III 65%, Wave Motion Gun (30%) = +170% to hit with WMG, +140% with PPBs.

I think with the WMG you have a minimum to hit of 31%, so you might not even need all those modifiers. (I have not used a WMG recently). 31% of your weapons hit every three rounds. That is tough when they plug you with Torpedoes every other round from Max range and then run away while they reload. Or they plug you with PPBs every round. Or they gut your ship with Null Space every three rounds. Or they use Massive Shield killers before the battle starts. Or the pull you in with a Tractor beam, hit you with cheap APBs, and fling you away with Repulsor beams.