Are some techs/wepons useless?

[dumbluck]

Well, I guess I can't say THAT anymore, can I?

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May your Life prosper and your Dreams be sweet.

[Nitram Draw]

I don't think there are any useless weapons but there are some that would preclude the research of others, for example it doesn't make much sense to research the Anti-Proton beam and the Meson bLaster at the same time. Same with missles and torpedos.

[pathfinder]

i have had to switch from phased polaron to anti-proton weapons against the Xi'Chung, simply because the later Version AP's did a BETTER job than the PP one's did. I also found out the hard way that the regular shields worked better aginst the Xi' Chung organic weapons (they like the electric gun) than do the pahsed shields.

I would research what works against an enemy or potential enemy, course you may have to find out the hard way what does or doesn't work

[Suicide Junkie]

How do you figure that Normal shields are better than phased shields against organics???

In an unmodded game, phased shields have 50 more hitpoints, so the only problem with them could be cost!

Do tell why you're using normal shields.

[Triumvir Emphy]

the lowest level phased shields don't have equal points to the previous level normal shields, he might be refering to the drop from one level to the next.

[JLXC]

Yeah THAT is annoying as heck! You go from 300 point normal Shields to a huge DROP in points phased shield, and when you use the Latest Tech button you now have to Switch back and forth so those DUMB low level phased shields do not end up on a ship! This is incredibly annoying for a ship tinker like me, forcing me to page through page after page of gear just to pick the "Good" shields.

[Suicide Junkie]

Why not mod, and have the techs go:

- Shield I
- PS I, & SR I
- Shield II
- PS II, & SR II
- Shield III
- PS III, & SR III
etc.

You can add the requirement that phased shields need an equivalent phased energy level, and you'll still get something at each shield tech level.
Plus, the increase in shield strength won't be so steep.
I would also recommend making phased shields equal or slightly weaker than normal shields, since they protect against more weapons.