Experience in combat and some possible solutions.

[Winterhome]

pretty space efficient

you spend more space on reactor and power capacitor blocks than you save on weapon modules :|

 

[Winterhome]

I said it that way because it's said that way here: https://starmadepedia.net/wiki/Ion_Effect_Computer

Though I can see how that would seem misleading. It is correct that the damage output becomes 4x times the normal weapon damage at 100% effect, but the total module count is 2x, taking into account the ion modules attached. So for example, if you have 1 cannon and it does 10 damage, attaching an ion effect computer and module will make it do 40 damage to shields. This is 4x the damage of one cannon module, but it uses twice the modules in total. Two cannon modules would do 20 damage, so it is 2x damage of what it would be if simply the weapon modules.

Overdrive does 2x damage as well, right? But doesn't it use 5 times the amount of power? To me, I'd rather just make my turret 5 times bigger to do 5 times the damage.

The wiki, in this case, is wildly inaccurate, and whoever made that change needs to take a lava block to the head.

Also, Overdrive does 3x damage at the cost of using 6x energy.

 

[Benevolent27]

The wiki, in this case, is wildly inaccurate, and whoever made that change needs to take a lava block to the head.

Also, Overdrive does 3x damage at the cost of using 6x energy.

Well, I don't generally use overdrive modules anyways, unless I really need to keep the size of a turret or entity down for some reason. Typically I don't have a reason to do this though. I have used them in 5x5x5 fighter cubes before though, when dueling.

 

[NeonSturm]

Maybe overdrive is a thing you can consider for some turrets, not main guns.
If these turrets cover only a quarter of the sphere around the ship, you have 3/4 damage for 6/4 power usage (compared to what the total amount weapon modules could use normally)

This makes it easier dealing with ships which search for weak spots and you still maintain your firepower because 3/4 of the turrets can't fire at the single target.
It could increase the aim-speed of turrets as they have less mass for weapon blocks per damage.


I think it's a shame we cannot program ion turrets to aim at targets with full shield and explosive/piercing/penetrating weapons at targets which already got ionized.

 

[DoomCarrot]

I agree shields need to have a 5-10 second stall when they are hit, not just when they are depleted (as it is now). Right now, a couple fighters pose absolutely no threat to large ships, largely because of this issue: Small guns just simply can't overpower a high recharge rate.

Also, space brakes are very weird to get used to, but I don't think they need change that badly. If you have a huge frigate class ship, you shouldn't be flying at 150 m/s in a fight, simple as that. It is one of the weaknesses of a large ship. If you cannot adjust to this weakness, you just suck at pvp with large ships. (No offense OP, I'm not really referring to you).

However, lag is really bad. But lag is a factor in everything right now. Partly this is due because there is very little optimization, as game is still in alpha. A good computer won't even save you, so don't bother. I have an athlon x2, and my friend with a phenom x6 lags just as much as me in big fights/around planets lol.

Honestly, I think we need to just accept that the game is in alpha, pvp sucks right now, and this game isn't gonna be pvp friendly for a long time probably. The framework is in place to make it great, but it just hasn't been tweaked to perfection yet.

OP's suggestions are a great place for the tweaking to start though.