Are torpedoes worth using?
The first time I played Freelancer, the first tiem I was torpedoes for sale I was in awe of the damage they dealt (not to mention their effect in cut scenes), and couldn't wait to be able to use them.
But by the time you actually can, they don't seem nearly as impressive, especially when you do the maths.
For example, a Starkiller is level 10, and does 2424 damage on a hit.
A Hellflurry II is also level 10, does 101 damage, and has a rate of fire of 4 shots per second.
Stick six of them on a heavy fighter, and you are doing 101 * 4 * 6 = 2424 damage. That is the same damage as a torpedo every second.
Now, admittedly, with torpedoes you are potentially doing an additional 2424 evey 2 seconds, assuming they don't get shot down, and assuming you can hit the target (they're too slow to catch a gunboat that's flying away from you). They also have better range, but not enough to safely snipe at an enemy, and it only takes a couple of seconds to get within gun range.
In the cut scenes, torpedoes are fired from a distance, and can take out a battleship or station in a single salvo. But in the actual game (unless I'm using them wrong), they just serve to make your strafing runs slightly better than they would be without them.
They are only situationally useful (fighting battleships/stations), and not even particularly impressive at that. And come at the expense of not carrying a cruise disrupter, which personally I find much more useful.
So are they actually worthwhile? Do they need buffing?* Or am I just using them wrong?
* I would suggest a massive increase to range and damage, but you could only carry a few. Maybe as low as two, or even just one. But with e.g. 10x the range, and enough power to take a battleship down to half health in one hit.