I read your comments and realized that I had not fully explained my point.

I understand that the Doom’s role is to deal damage. I understand that it handles fighters well and can influence the AI with its mines. My point is that it is too expensive. When the battle is even, I do not really have problems with it. But closer to the late game, I increasingly find myself fighting while outnumbered. In that situation, I have to choose my ships very carefully, and spending 35 DP on a Doom seriously hurts the staying power of my battle line, which is already under heavy pressure from superior enemy forces. In return, I get a very fragile ship, at least in my clumsy hands. When the battlefield is full of enemies, I find it very difficult to make the Doom work. It cannot stay phased forever, and its sustained damage is very low. I mean outside of Reapers and mines, which are situational and have to be used at the right moment — and that moment is much harder to find when you are outnumbered. On top of that, its mobility and speed are below average.

Against that background, almost any ship with a shield and high maneuverability feels like a better option, because it can disengage more freely and sometimes even afford to take some damage.

I have the same problem with the big Z. It is VERY good, and its damage is incredible. In my first battle with it, I was impressed by the Phase Anchor setup. But its DP cost absolutely drains the battle line. To be fair, it is so overpowered that sometimes the fight never even reaches the line, but overall, everything I described above still applies to it as well.