The Phaser Lance can't destroy a ship with one shot all by itself. However, it deals massive damage. You can decloak, apply Attack Pattern Alpha, Fire on my Mark, DBB an opponent and fire the lance. The enemy shields will definitely be down by then. If you fire quantum torpedoes with HYT II at this point, he is in serious trouble. Alternatively, you can fire at his hull with the lance if you can drop his shields without it.

Three drawbacks:

- You can't use Beam Overload, because it has a common cooldown with the Lance (BIG drawback).

- The Lance fires in two bursts. The first will hit the target, you have to aim the second. That is no big deal when facing a cruiser-sized ship.If you face a sci vessel or (even worse) an escort, you have a problem. Invest on a Tractor Beam I. Just before firing the lance, after you line the target up, slap a tractor on him. You only need to hold him for 2 secs. If he can shake your tractor in less than 2 secs (Attack Pattern Omega or Polarize hull or whatever) your attack probably won't succeed.

- You are flying a ship with the Galaxy turn rate. It means that lining up the enemy is tough. When not in the initial engagement (Decloak and Alpha Strike) you will probably be fighting like all other cruisers. The lance has a 2 min cooldown period. During the fight, many enemies will pop in front of you, begging to be tractored and fired upon by the lance. Don't give in to temptation. Wait. Can you follow up the strike with a HYT burst? Is the enemy already damaged enough so that only one hit with the lance will drop him? Do you really need the lance to bring him down? Can you tractor him? is he close enough so that you can aim the lance properly?

What I want to say is that the lance can be a powerful weapon if you use it right (in Decloaking and Alpha Strikes and in targets of opportunity), but if you don't use it right, you have sacrificed a console and a Beam Overload for what will be for you just a gimmick.