Well i dont know how the other tankers are feeling but tank battles are getting boring and dull (tank vs tank). Mainly because its no fun anymore to challenge another tank simply because when you get to a certain lvl you 2 shot allmost any kind off tank. Ive enjoyed the last build more in that kinda aspect. Where you needed multiple hits+the help off your gunners to take out a enemy tank with yours. Another thing is that on the last build i was aible to even challenge a gunnlogi/sagaris with just a decent fit soma. I still remember that ive put some good armor modules, a railgun from salvage and 2 small missile launchers on it and it was ready to go head-head with other tanks. But now with damage mods+skillbook damage its quite impossible to go as a newbie tanker into a fight against a guy who is very high skilled into them. Also those militia tanks are allmost every time 1 shoted. I never remember to 1 shot a good fited militia tank on the last build. Now tank fights are basically who can get a better shot off to the enemy tank which is sitting in his redline. We came a long road downhill at the stage which we have now. extreme powerfull railgun turrets (damage mod+skillbook damage is the reason for that) on quite weak tanks with allmost no resistance. In my opinion get rid off damage mods/skillbook damage bonus, give the tanks their resistance back, buff missiles so that they actually work and buff small blasters to be a viable option. That would ecnourage tankers to actually go out again and not just sitting in their redline. And ive seen allmost no tank vs tank fights this build aswell. And no sitting in the redline and just shoting everything that moves doesnt count as tank fight.

i agree that passive skill damage bonus are too much, i think that hybrids should get a heat buildup reduction and missiles a reduction to the spread.

If there are AP & AV missile variations, that could help (something I can see down the road...think un-nerfed Dropships but with total crap direct damage). Lasers could have some kind of wide beam vs concentrated type of differentiation, providing 8 variants? This would give an AV & AP options to all races.

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Lasers are medium range weapon and divide into two sub-groups:

Beam lasers have a shorter optimal range than their hybrid railgun counterparts, but do, as a whole, more damage. Advanced coolant technologies allow beam lasers to keep firing for a long time without overheating. The heaviest lasers, battleship-class tachyon beam lasers, are regarded by many as brutally devastating sniper weapons (although their range is limited) and are often used in fleet sieges.

Pulse lasers have better range than blasters, hybrid weapon from the same class, but do considerably less damage. Anyway, pulse lasers are in favor among skilled pilots because they provide good damage/range ratio. By contrast with beam turrets, pulses fire rapidly several times in a cycle.

As described in the technical section, lasers are energy weapons, so they require an exceptionally strong powergrid. Moreover, shooting them expends a huge amount of energy. Most Amarr ships are designed to lower energy weapon capacitor usage, have powerful energy grid and large capacitor capacity. This slightly negates the gluttonous nature of lasers, but automatically makes unwise any attempts to install lasers on non-Amarr spacecraft.

Like all tactical choices in New Eden, there are advantages and disadvantages in using lasers:

Pro

Tech I crystal fitted lasers never run out of ammo and are ideal for deep space bounty hunting and raiding, far away from supply lines.
Even though Tech II and faction crystals suffer from degradation with use, these crystals still outlast the ammo of other weaponry.
Lasers can swap their lens fast, effectively bypassing the 10 second reload that plagues other weapon types. This allows for laser users to quickly change targets.

Con

Laser damage is set to EM and thermal types and is therefore predictable.
Lasers essentially use a ship's capacitor as ammo; this means lasers will tend to drain capacitor fast unless preventative measures are taken.
Due to high capacitor usage, laser boats are more vulnerable to energy neutralizing and have difficulties running a microwarpdrive without the skills to back it up.