I've been running DHC's on my Escort ever since I got it. It's what I was advised to do, and it works!
But I am an inquisitive player, and like to explore new tactics!
So I had a thought: DHC's put out heavier bolts, but they are fewer. While Dual Cannons put out more bolts, but are less powerfull. The DPS on them is the same, but they work in seperate ways. So why run DHC's over Duals?
I kind of figure that more bolts would = more crits, which with the proper gear and build, would mean higher DPS. Is this line of thinking wrong?
DHC's get their edge from little oddities in how weapon firing cycles overlap - you get less power drain over your entire firing cycle, even though the individual cannons have higher drain.
DC's can get more procs, more crits, etc, but the power drain makes a pretty big difference, with the DPS calculator the difference is around 10% - you'll need an impressive crit rate and very good crit severity to make that up just in the extra shots you gain from the DC's.