@GF: 3 or 4 missiles could easily come in a single volley but typically you could easily take 2 missile hits in separate volleys whilst trying to run. The point is that a third of a stock sidewinder hull damage (~33 hull damage per missile) is plenty enough of a threat. In addition it would not necessarily be the sidewinder pilots fault if they take missile damage while running. You seem to be too quick to be overly critical of the victim IMO. There could be numerous reasons why such pilots could end up in such situations and before you ask - NO I won't try to list them, it is not my fault if you lack the imagination to consider the possibilities.
Are you serious? I'm seriously doubting if you are here to debate...
I can imagine all sort of worst scenario and all sort of best scenario, but they are the outlier, stop using arguments that you don't intend to support. Missiles aren't a threat as they are, stop making a pilot's incompetence as the excuse to prevent proper balancing of weaponry.
As for synthesis of ammo, while you may be happy to grind away for them not everyone is. In addition, synthesis is really an out of combat activity and IMO/IME more meant to support deep range patrols and explorers than intended as a regular usage thing. Where missiles are concerned, the synthesis seems to be only a half load of a class 2 launcher.
Do you want to hear how many times I reloaded rail guns in PvP battle, which you know, much more demanding than PvE...
And please, stop saying things that are utterly false. Synthesis has three options for explosive ammunition, first one reloads half, other two reload full.
It sounds to me like you want missiles to be big I WIN buttons rather than supplemental weapons they seem to be meant to be.
Please stop responding if you are not going to read, I emphasized over and over that the reason why Missiles need to be buffed is because it will make PD and ECM relevant again, which is in line of the developers' philosophy of creating variance in the game. Almost no one use missiles seriously.
With missiles as they are now they can be fitted to a ship MLRS style (c/f a loadout that a friend of mine at least sometimes uses) and a couple of volleys of say 6 seeker missiles will quickly give a lot of ships something to be concerned about. Even two launchers allows you to catch a running NPC before they can escape (assuming they last that long) - at least most of the time IME.
Stop using "a friend of mine" argument without giving any context as to what situation it entails. NPCs don't know how to outfit their ships properly nor how to escape properly...
Probably a military grade Anaconda (<2000 total damage) is probably what I would consider a reasonable maximum measure of total potential hull damage from a single Class 2 launcher (currently would probably need 2 class 2 launchers for that), and 4 military grade Sidewinders (<850 total damage) seems reasonable for a single class 1 launcher (currently probably at 2 military grade level - <500 total damage).
I really wonder what person sticks around if they aren't build for hull tanking, and why would they worry if they are hull tanking to take on the maximum potential damage of missiles, and give me reference, otherwise it's estimating.
In general though, the current per shot (~33 or more per missile based on your 3 hit estimate - which seems to match up with my experience of 3 volleys of 2 missiles for a random NPC Cobra Mk III) and total damage (based on 33 per shot - 396 for class 1/S and 792 for class 2/M) capabilities of the current range of missile launchers is fine IMO.
The problem is hull tanking builds don't have to worry and shield tanking builds can easily escape, why do you think people think missiles are useless?
Another thought, 33 damage per launch roughly equates to 10 damage per second (1 missile every 3 seconds or thereabouts - ROF of 0.3/s) which seems to be better than the on paper damage rates stated by Coriolis (possibly due to them using the base damage values and not taking into account the explosion effect which may vary a bit depending on range of detonation from target and the nature of target bulkheads).
It's much more intricate than just flat numbers, please tell me you read about hardness, explosive reduction percentage for various armor type and ships. The balance isn't just about flat damage adjustment.
Edit:
The reason why people ask for missile buff is because it has no place, even worse than fragment cannon.
Lasers do well against shields and is hit-scan so good for module sniping.
Kinetics have low capacitor consumption and do good/consistent hull and shield damage, module damage is also good.
Rail is hit-scan and is godly against modules and great against shields.
Plasma is good against both shield and hull.
Missiles do crap against shield, crap against hull, and crap against modules, hence why people are asking for a buff.
