We often debate the design decisions that Frontier made with Elite. But one area they got it nearly spot on is weapons. You can tell because every commander has a different favorite. So many viable choices and combinations it makes your head spin. But the fact that each answer is different suggests they really nailed it. That's my take anyway.
Despite the massive trove of options, I'm a beams and muticannons man myself. Part of this is effectiveness, it really is a nice combo, able to deal with all situations and target types. But a sometimes-overlooked reason is the relatively low power and heat footprint of such an arrangement. There's no free lunch, as they say, and this has a carry-over effect throughout the build.
This is my combat Krait II. It's one of several in my fleet, but this is the one I use for dedicated combat, though all are armed in the same way regardless of role.
Poison Whiskey
When I build my ships I prioritize low mass, high speed, cool-running, good jump and shields. Firepower and integrity, while important of course, are lower on the list.
In this ship I use two large beams, both efficient thermal vent. I claim the cooling effect of beams striking the target acts as a cloaking device in the same way heatsinks do. Not sure it works this way frankly, but I believe it. If so, this increases your ship's survivability in the moment when it is most vulnerable, when saddled up on your prey.
The other three hardpoints are all overcharged multicannons, with corrosive on the large centerline and autoloader on the outboard mediums. Autoloader is a fantastic mod, underrated in my opinion. Folks tend to focus on DPS, when DPM is more important in my view, and autoloader is a DPM star.
All are gimballed as I prefer it. To be able to continue to give the bad guy the good news regardless of maneuver, attitude or orientation is very valuable, not to mention how it handles shot speed disparity between dissimilar mounted weaponry. I also use fixed weapons and like them too, my Chieftain for example is all fixed rails and beams. Lots of fun and effective. Fixed weapons though are only effective in lead pursuit against a maneuvering target, whereas gimbals are effective in all three pursuit phases. Fixed weapons are overrated in the community, but it's only my take.
The role of this Krait is what I call Combat Sweeper. It's intended to mix it up in combat spaces like CNBs and RES sites, with limpets to collect (sweep) up the mats left behind.
