Fighters! What are they good for?

[Cheeze]

I agree that Phased Polaron beams seem to be the most effective weapon over most of the game. I wonder if they should have been designed more like the fighter PPB, which is not very good on damage save that it skips regular shields. The only difficulty to PPB's is their cost. Having ships largely carrying this weapon tends to be much more expensive than those that do not.