I wanted to start a short series of discussions about the design choices of this mod. It's fun to write about but hopefully also interesting to read!

The Photon Blaster / Photon Cannon are one of my favorite weapon types to use. The Blaster is a very early game XL weapon that does not cost any rare materials; it also does high damage per shot, especially compared to contemporary weapons. However, the high power requirement make it tricky to employ effectively. Using it with contemporary reactors usually result in a poorly protected ship or defense platform.

With more modern Antimatter reactors, they can be used easily on larger ships such as Cruisers, however their performance in this era is only moderate at best.

The Photon Cannon does a ton of damage and is useful from its relatively early inception to the end the game. At first, similar to the Blaster, it's hard to use effectively due to the high power requirement. Later in the game with better reactors, it can be easily integrated into larger ships. One of my favorite configurations is a Cruiser with the Photon Cannon, which is great for taking down Battleships.

With late-game Zero Point or Dark Matter reactors, you can get a Photon Cannon onto a Destroyer which makes them extremely dangerous; however these Destroyers have literally no protection. The XL section for the Destroyer has no slots for armor or shields, so they can be easily dispatched with anti-hull weapons.