[Brainiac4]

IIRC, the Gatling Laser is also good for point defense.

The Micrometeorite Gun is good for taking on fighters -- the spread of the shot makes it easier to hit moving targets.

My favorite fighter weapon is the Molybdenum Cone Cannon.

If you take a look at the gamedata files, you can learn a lot. For example, the Micrometeorite Gun (wp_projmicm.ini in /default/gamedata/items) shows:

NAME Micrometeorite Gun
NAM2 a micrometeorite gun
ICON items/s_weapon1.jpg 2
GFXP items/l_weapon1.jpg 2
FLAG tech
DIST dead cold warm hot toxic
TEXT A short range tactical projectile weapon that magnetically charges and propels an expanding cloud of particulated micrometeorite material.
COST 253 technology
TYPE weapon
SIZE 2
DATA

TURR 0
AIMD 8
FLAG allowfter allowcaps preffter

and much more, but that first part contains the stuff you are looking for.

SIZE will be either 1 or 2. 1s fit in fighters, 2s need a capital ship.

the FLAG value of 'allowfter' means it will target fighters, and 'preffter' means that it will preferentially target them.

And, of course, if you decide you want to play around with these, you can. Just remember to back up your game first, or create a mod folder.