Gonna have to stop you here to point out that anecdotal evidence is, well, anecdotal, and not actual data. It can’t be relied on, and it’s not a broad enough sample size to be seen as indicative of anything. How many people didn’t you talk to? How many people did you talk with who weren’t going to low/null, and you just didn’t particularly mark those folks or that conversation?
The mind’s a funny thing. S’why data collection needs rigorous controls before you go starting to draw conclusions.
POS guns are just the most extreme example. Battleships do the same thing to 300km or so. :shrug: Point is, if he thinks we’re gonna get a single chemical explosion that accelerates a projectile to 600km/s, he’s smoking something. Especially since holding the ship steady while you do volleys of 8 of those explosions, or accelerating magnetic fields, in a single direction would take similar energy discharges in the exact opposite direction. Anyone who advocates that extra complexity vs ‘use a damned LASER’ is on crack. But of course, the LASER is still directed energy emission, so it’d need to be countered.
As mentioned, the Prospect is a Covert Ops mining frigate. Just remember, you can’t cloak if someone has you targeted, and stealth bombers do not have a targeting delay when they decloak. Your best bet for ‘quickly escape’ is the same as for ‘fight off a lone attacker’: bring friends. As many as you can get.
Other miners help by dropping more combat drones. Combat pilots can sit ready to defend you. Scouts can sit cloaked and watch for hostile gangs 2-3 jumps out.
Organization and numbers—these will always be the best way forward with any given set of tools.