Question about general strategy: missles vs. fighters vs. drones vs. direct fire, etc

[teal]

From reading the forums and from my own (still very small but growing) experience, there seems to be a few general strategies.

1) Missles
2) Fighters
3) Drones
4) Kamikaze Ships
5) Direct fire ships

My observation is that the first 3 strategies work only if your opponent is not prepared with lots of point defense (possible exception being high tech drones). Since your opponent can retrofit his ships to include a few extra point defense cannons in a turn or two, this means that these strategies will only work *once* before your opponent adjusts and prepares for them.

I have not had much experience with strategy 4), Kamikaze ships, but I don't see the economics of this working very well.

Which means we are left with 5), direct fire, which has no quick counter and is a good general long term strategy.

This is all a large preamble to asking the big question. Is their *anything* which can effectively counter Bezerkers with high (or maxed) aggressiveness or defensiveness? Put another way, if your opponent has high defensiveness/agressiveness and you do not, what strategy can you adopt that is a good long term strategy and not doomed to failure once he retrofits a couple of PD cannons onto his ships? So far I can't think of anything. It seems possible that drones might work and/or kamikaze ships with your presumably better economy because you spent your racial points somewhere else... but this all seems kind of doubtful. This is kind of dissapointing because it means that their really is only once choice in empire design if you don't want to doom yourself to getting mopped up by the first beserker race you face. What am I missing?