[geoschmo]

[quote]Originally posted by sachmo:

Geo,

Since I haven't really made it to the endgame stage yet, can you tell me in what way point-defense becomes so effective that it nullifies the fighter advantage? Does it get more shots, or a longer range?

They get longer range and more damage per shot at the higher tech levels. They always fire once per turn, only take 20KT of space and are relativly cheap to buy as weapons go, and they are cheap to research. And they get to fire as soon as the fighter or missle moves into range, instead of letting the fighter get off a shot first. Add to this that regular direct fire weapons can target fighters, and do much higher damage.

There is no hard and fast rule about when the fighters become non-viable. But unless the enemy is using a LOT of fighters, like hundreds per combat, you can get away with just including a 2 or 3 PDC on your capital ships. And even if they are using hundreds, throwing one or two all PDC ships in the fleet takes care of that.

Fighters are good for some things. They are very good early, and very good for defense in less critical areas. They will keep your enemy honest and not allow them to wipe out a bunch of colonies in your rear with a couple of light raiders. But against the strength of your enemies frontline warships late in the game they serve at best a supporting role. If they do well by themselves your enemy isn't all that good and not much of a threat anyway.

Geoschmo