The difference a shield makes against a weapon is always 20% higher/lower, or nothing at all (ie Tachyon vs Graviton). As you might expect, this makes little difference to Pulse guns because of their massive shield damage, 20% makes little difference. And about your graviton/positron question, it depends who you're fighting because each faction uses different types of weapons

I meant it mostly for PvP situations, most use those big pulse guns, and those purple guns (no spoilers here).

Do those "purple guns" have a clasifed type, or do they do the same to all shield types?

The 'purple Guns' can tear any shield apart in a matter of a few shots

Well, that doenst really help :p

When stacked against the "Purple guns" does your shield type have any effect?

if ur against a ship with 'purple Guns' then i suggest u get the highest class shield ur ship can take it won't last all tht long but if u've got a lot of shield batteries then u should be ok

try not to get hit! weave weave weave, get behind the enemy and don't forget to use mines! That purple cr*p never gets near me.

..how about getting me off these antibiotics..

I have a couple of heavy guns in one of my single player games and it sill takes me arround a minute to shoot down the really good police in thier light fighters whereas the heavy fighters fall in one shot. When dealing with big guns, like others have said, weave. If you get hit, you're more or less screwed. A light fighter in a debris or asteroid feild, however, will more than even the odds against a full blown VHF. --- VH16

I am Nobody; Nobody is Perfect; Therefore, I am Perfect

to that question earlier, no shield type gives improved protection against the purple guns. On the other hand, you won't be weak to them either

the 'purple guns' are classed as energy weapons, thus giving them 100% effectivness against all sheild types, same as the *classified* guns, if your up against energy weapons, my advice is:
get LOTS of REALLY BIG guns and missiles, and blast him with everything you have, those upper level torps work well also, provided you have the skill to make one hit...
use an agile ship, and lure the enemy into an asteroid field with sensor disruption to lower his accuracy. use photon guns as well, he low refire of energy weapons against the high refire of photon weapons means that your overall damage and accuracy level is higher that what he is dishing out.
DONT BE PREDICTABLE!! swerve, dodge, shoot sideways, engine kill with afterburner, because if you start being predictable, he'll know where to shoot, and i assure you, not many ships can withstand more that 4 hits from those purple-level energy weapons, trust me, i know.
KEEP YOUR SHIELDS UP!! all weapons do 50% damage to shields based on thier base damage(except pulse weps), so you get less damage, and keep you hull intact longer, plus, FL includes a vibration inducer, meaning, if you get a hull hit, your screen vibrates, and throws your aim off.
take advantage of his shield: if he has graviton, get particle, if he has positron, get pulse and photon, if he has molecular, get tachyon or neutron, and get the highest refire in the range.

hope that helps, and happy PvP ing