I'm just starting to build up a navy, how do mesons, carronades, lasers, and microwaves compare as weapons?
Mesons, carronades, lasers, and microwaves are all beam weapons. So are railguns, and gauss. That means they are all short ranged (compared to missiles) so they operate from 20,000 km to 250,000 km. Missiles are VERY long ranged in Aurora, and are running millions of km.
The advantages to beam weapons is speed, and no ammo requirements. Up close, beams are killer, at a distance they are ineffective vs a missile armed combatant.
Beam weapons have two main research components, size (expressed in bore or focus size in centimeters or strength points) and range (or wavelength or distance, its the same thing). There is a third component, thats actually shared between all beam weapons, and thats capacitor recharge rates, and that sets how fast they can fire, in increments of 5 seconds.
That being said, the various beam platforms advantages are;
1) Mesons: Ignore armor AND shields. They also can be fired in atmospheres, unlike the other beam weapons. Mesons only do 1pt of damage, but it cant be stopped. They are popular with lots of players for those reasons. They can be turreted and are popular as good offensive/defensive weapons since they can be used to shoot down incoming missiles or against ships. Mesons are very cheap to research initially, but get more expensive as the technology improves.
2) Carronades: Slow firing and very short ranged, but the throw out MASSIVE damage. Carronades are situational, and work best when used in very close ranged engagement like jump point defense. They are also very cheap to research, since there is no distance research for carronades.
3) Lasers: Lasers are the standard beam weapon. The do better damage the closer you get, but they can have fairly long ranges (for beams). They are good for offensive and defensive purposes (like anti-missile duty). Generally lasers are the primary beam platform for a lot of players and NPR races, as they are a good all around weapon, and can be turreted. Lasers are moderately expensive to research, very cheap at first but progressively more expensive.
4) Microwaves: Microwaves kill shields and electronics (sensors) but do nothing else. They can blind enemy ships and knock down shields quickly, but are otherwise limited. They are very short ranged, which makes them harder to deploy. Due to their limited damage profile and short range, they are not a very common weapon system.
5) Railguns: Railguns are the other common beam weapon system. They have good range, excellent hitting power, and are fairly cheap to research. The downside is that railguns are hull only weapons and cant be turreted.
6) Gauss: Similar to railguns, the are kinetic weapons that have VERY high rates of fire, low damage, and short range. They are a very good anti-missile weapon though, and popular in point defense turrets. They are excellent anti-missile weapons, but are moderately to very expensive to develop as the game goes on.
7) Particle Beams: Basically a big, slow, but hard hitting cannon or torpedo system. Particle beams are slow firing, but pack a big punch. They have fantastic range and hitting power, but are slow to fire. Particle beams can be expensive to develop.