You have been missing out on a wee bit of firepower, accuracy and range. Congrats that we got this all cleared up.

Sorry just to clarify, when we say mods, we mean in game researched weapon modifcations that can be toggled on weapons, not external software brought in for game flavor.

If you are in fact not playing with any weapon mods and just taking the weapons as is, Damn that is hard mode+ right there.

To my knowledge there is no simple rock/paper/scissors style method of answering this.

Weapons are more geared towards their personal effects, and usually these effects are either ignoring something or increasing there own damage over all.

That being said there are some issues with mods, usually ...

Looking at the image, are we seeing damage over time weapons?

Slurpee World?

Huh, I wonder if there is a science penalty cause of brainfreeze.

That be nice, then you can have fixed weapons and fire arcs on the stations.

See I don't like the idea of early terraforming, pop gen is important I know, but what we are talking about is a racial feature.

The thing that needs to make them better needs to A: be a defining feature that no other faction can use, or use to its fullest and B:Defines humanity as a race and a ...

Ooh idea for new human mechanic "Come Home" human ships begin appering randomly every 10 turns for 100 turns, then every 25 after that. Small random groups of ships, with random techs in each.

Hmm...so is it more important for PD to have high Accuracy or high Damage? How do I decide between Laser and Coilgun PD in the beginning?
I'd say accuracy is more important, because a PD shot that hits but doesn't destroy the target at least damages it, while a shot that misses does nothing ...

planetary defenses scale, I thought, to planet size.

Yes this is all good, but none of this solves the other problem, killing the thing that does the thing.

Kite PD I already grasped, given the near singleminded ness of the ai. This leads into the unfortunate territory of trying to fight an enemy that is better equipped than I due to design or ...

Might be interesting if we had a formation choice before battle. battle lines/curve/triangle/diamond/multiple diamonds.

The stations would need to move anyway. Otherwise an attacking force would just go to the other side of the planet. :D

How about adding a maneuvering engine to defensive stations? You would be able to slowly move it just like any other ship in a battle. Rotate it to change facing. Have heavy ...

I would enjoy that micro, I would find it useful.

how about a compromise, rotate the shield on the station 45 degrees. Two shield facings against the enemy.

ok, different suggestion, what if the station was on an orbit that went around the battlefield? its currently static, so what if it was on a track?