I'm finding that multicannons have become trash since the game was released. I fought an AI crusader last night that took ten minutes to kill once the shields dropped--and they dropped 5 or 10 times. Once down, the ship would hardly take any damage, both from multicannons and beam lasers. Was a total nightmare. It wasn't even an Elite ranked craft, either--I think it was an alliance crusader. Regardless, such a long lasting opponent with shields down in unacceptable. I must rethink my killing tools.
You should also consider engineering at least one MC with the CORROSIVE SHELL experimental effect. This causes weakening of the enemy hull and makes it susceptible to greater damage from any weapon. Only need it on ONE since the damage is persistent and you don't gain much from having it on both. You can go Incendiary on another cannon for a double whammy, but I run CORROSIVE + AUTOLOADER so I can always have at least one cannon firing. I've always used a mix of Beams and MC's (with a PA or some other heavy hitter if I could mount it). Use the Beam and PA to strip shields, then the Multi's to weaken/damage the hull and use he BEAMS/PA as needed to finish the job.
