Light Frigates only deal decent damage to ships with Heavy Armor (Flak Frigate and Carrier & Support Cruisers).
They do 125%. Heavy Cruisers also do 125%. These 2 are in fact the best against Heavy Armor.
Oh, and (At least the Advent ones) use Plasma instead of lasers, which means you need to research separate upgrades to increase their damage.
What do you all think? I tend to use Light frigs as my main force late game with some heavy cruisers to help...and a swarm of bombers/illuminators to combat the enemy's HC force.
The Advent's Destra Crusader uses Plasma weapons, so yes, you do have to research a completely different(and very expensive) tech branch for them. It's the same thing for the Vasari's Skarovas Enforcer heavy cruiser - it uses Wave weapons instead of the standard Phase Missiles & Pulse Guns/Beams used on other Vasari ships.
But Wave weaponry isn't as expensive to research as Plasma weaponry, and both give a 25% buff to direct damage. But the Plasma weapon line's final tech gives a big cool-down bonus, and if researched, it gives the Crusader unmatched DPS and takes it beyond the Enforcer to become the strongest heavy cruiser, that too, for only 10 supply each(unlike 12 for the Enforcer).
IMO, in late game, Light Frigates take up a niche role. Their antimatter-killing abilities combined with their high speed and AntiHeavy weapons make them perfect in killing support/carrier cruisers. They can flank or rush through a defensive wall of slower Heavy Cruisers and knock-out/kill the support cruisers before they get killed themselves, and then make a frantic run for their lives when they are targeted. For direct combat, Heavy Cruisers take over.
