Sorry to steal someone's idea on the "Evil looking cruiser turret" thread, but how about making flamethrower sorts of weapon?
Give them short range (100 meter), very high refire rate (so it looks like one stream), very high energy consumption and damage. It would be a weapon of choice for 1 on 1, right?
EDIT: And logically, practically no shield damage.
EDIT: And not really a flamethrower, but a flamethrower styled weapon.