What's is the point of certain weapons in SE:IV?

[Gozra]

Combined Arms
Torpedos are a small part of the Combined arms package. Also torpedos are very useful for taking out planets at long range and reducing your fleets damage in smashing heavily fortified planets. so far in SEIV ALL weapons have a 'niche'

[Fyron]

I disagree. Torpedos are pretty much worthless. The best torpedo has a damage ratio of 1.25 at range 6. So does APB X, which also does more damage at lower ranges and has 1 greater range, all while being far more flexible with fire rate 1. Even down to APB VII is fairly comparable to the best torpedo. The same level of torpedo, the Quantum Torpedo II, has damage ratio less than 1 at all ranges... Torpedos are also roughly twice as expensive per kiloton compared to APB.

[Suicide Junkie]

Perhaps some of you are confusing torpedoes (direct fire, total suck compared to APB), and missiles (at least they have long range)

[Kevin Arisa]

I never used torps in stock either. They were totally nerfed. In Eclipse I gave them an accuracy bonus, good range, and good power. One of the first things I changed even before Eclipse, actually.

[Kamog]

Well, I suppose that in some situations, a slow loading weapon that does more damage per shot could be better than a fast loading weapon that does less damage per shot. For example, if the enemy ships are using emissive armor, the slower loading but more powerful attacks might end up doing more damage over time. But I'm not sure because I don't use torpedoes or emissive armor either. Or maybe the slower but more powerful weapons could be useful for warp point defense if you shoot first and do more damage.