I know most of this comes down to skill (which I have little of), but I'm still curious, what is the Gladius loadout that you prefer?
Most comes down to experience. When I started, a Hurricane took me 2 minutes. Now in space, a Hurricane takes me 4 - 5 full salvos, if he is willing to play with me. You get him to play with you if you get close enough.
I prefer the NDB-30's. They are good against lighter targets, but when you get close enough, also against heavier targets. Especially since turrets of heavier targets have a problem hitting you from close distance.. except the Hurricanes turret.
On the MT bounties, I switched to the Arrow. That gives me 2 NDB-30's and 2 NDB-28's.
Gladius with 3x NDB-30 gives you 31 shots when full power to weapons.
Arrow with 2x NDB-30 and 2x
NDB-28 NDB-26 gives you 27 shots on the 30's and 39 shots on the
28's 26's. A slightly shorter salvo but punching harder.
The NDB's have the same DPS as any other laser repeater. It seems like they shoot faster, so punching more DPS in a shorter time, but that isn't correct. However, the NDB's have slightly more distortion damage then other laser repeaters.