Why have state ships (and construction ships AND fueltanker) weapon slots ???

[R_TEAM]

She never shot back ....
She always flee (if you manage complicated that he not flee - she still not shot back ... but get destroyed ba mimic sitting duck)
Simply a full useless thing ... ... ...

[Miravlix]

Point Defense.

Allows them to survive longer and get out of dodge, but yeah, anything else is not really an option with the way the AI handle the ships.

[R_TEAM]

mhhh - musst this test .. but i am unsure would the (as example) frighter AI use the PD weapon at all ....

[Radamanthe]

PD as already stated, but also tractor beams which can pull AND push foes.

[Emperor0Akim]

I thought PD fires automatically as soon as a fitting target comes into range ?

Should be do-able, even by freighter AI

[SherLocK55]

Bigger weapons can still be useful on said ships, just need to change the AI settings so they don't flee immediately, can be helpful when say your exploration ship or construction ship run into a small threat and you need to deal with it without waiting for your military ships to show up and handle the job.

As an example I used one of my construction ships to take out a couple of Gravillex that was stopping it from repairing a couple of ancient battleships.

[Emperor0Akim]

Yeah, thats useful,
at a certain tech level those ships get useful.

But I think the Thread Author meant Private Ships, Transports and Such, which can not be controlled by you,
are always outgunned and having them try to shoot back costs just valuable distance to the enemy.

[R_TEAM]

i am not 100% sure (as it as a couple of days ago) ...
but the test that i have maked to show "if" an ship from the named ships (state/const/exp/tank) shot back if i set it on manual and adjust the ship tactic to "not" flee - stay aggresiv and attack "all" was with an constructor ...
He was attacked by an pirate escort and "if" it work, there was no problem as he was more than double power as the escort...
But even with manual tergeting (so it was 100% an "non-state" ship - here you cant manual target) and setting the tactics to always fight .... he never shot back ....
Cant say if it work on space creatures ... .... ....
(and he was equiped with direct hit weapons , no PD ... so this is still an question if he use a PD weapon ... have now all state ships/const/exp/tank equiped with PD ... wait to see if this work ...)