Electric Rails

"The Electric Rails boost the effectiveness of Kinetic weapons by delivering a powerful electric charge that disrupts enemy thrusters."

General
Electric Rails boost Kinetic weapons by imbuing them with a stasis effect, crippling any enemies that get hit for a brief moment. This special is restricted to frigates.

Advantages
Electric Rails are suited for frigates that are designed for kiting. Kinetic weapons have the advantage of long range and the ability to equip Iridium Magnets, making them almost a sure-hit against blitzing opponents. This is unlike the Arrestor Beam which lacks range, and the NET Torpedo, unreliable due to its slow speed and wide spread.

Electric Rails are also used on frigates designed to rush into battleships. Once in range, the battleships get slowed down and can never escape the frigates' grasp.

Mix and match various Kinetic weapons to overlap their firing cycles and keep enemies slowed. AP Drivers can inhibit the movement of multiple ships in a line, while Gladius Drivers can potentially hit two enemies next to each other with their AoE.

Disadvantages
Electric Rails is only effective when combined with Iridium Magnets, but most frigates do not get three special slots (one of which is occupied by a thruster) until Mk IV. As a result, lower-level frigates rarely if ever get the chance to utilize this special.

Electric Rails provide significantly less stasis compared to Arrestor Beams and NET Torpedoes, and the stasis lasts for a shorter period of time. They may not be able to stop a fleet of cruisers, let alone cutters.

Trivia

 * Electric Rails is the only Kinetic source of stasis effects.