before there re too many complaints about warship weaponry...
the intention is to achieve an easier and more flexible loadout without giving up main firepower. - so .... less primary guns achieve what a pure primary gun loadout achieved then. - but equipping a battleship with only primary guns and expecting the same result ( high damage, almost no drain ) won t work anymore.
since the damage was doubled however - you can now equip less primary guns and also a few special weapons.
example:
before, a gun may have done 2000 damage for 10.000 energy. - now it does 4000 damage for ~20.000 energy. - before you had 12 primary guns. - now you can go with 6 primary guns + some special guns and still have roughly the same dps.
if you do however still go with 12 primary guns - your powerdrain will be significant - but its also a huge burst damage ( which you would also get when you equipped a special heavy weapon though )
so - it actually helps battleships a little ( especially small ones ) - cause the hardpoint location became less "precious" - and they can afford to equip a greater variety of weapons.