Another possibility:
In these two threads--
http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7873&start=15http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8035--reference is made to the rockbug drive using a lot of computational power to move their ships around.
In the last thread there was also reference to the rockbugs being ambush predators, jumpers, like predatory birds.... something that waits for the right moment and then hits and hits hard.
So perhaps they could have fewer horizontal chances and much better vertical chances due to increased focus on their target-- which, granted, runs directly counter to Coyote27.
BUT, following up on the idea of the rockbug preference for scattershots and rapidfire weaponry, there could be a defining philosophy here:
1. Wait until the time is right (and the wait may be pretty extensive while they get everything perfect-- zipping up the tree to the best armor/cannons/whatever without the distraction of too many branches)
2. Surprise attack (exemplified in their jumping drive method; these guys may also have an affinity for cloaking)
3. Land right in the middle of the enemy and kill them all very very quickly (heavy use of weapons that hit hard and shoot fast, especially in the plasma tree: HACs, projectors, etc. and then things like stormers/scattershot/lightning guns/multiple warheads and maybe beams because they seem to be particular in nature. COL. Minefields. Low chances of accurate weaponry, or even more singular weaponry like phasers, combat lasers, torpedoes, armor-piercing, siege drivers, etc.)
This covers just weapons. Now, if their ideal is to land in the middle of everyone and blast away, they could be armored similarly to Hivers. The difference is that, as Coyote27 said, their ships could have omnidirectional firing arcs designed to rake targets and they would have fewer but larger weapons.
A kind of mix between Hiver and Zuul. They pack big guns and can take some punishment, but suffer on precision in favor of lots of lead/plasma/missiles.
Computers. If their drives take a lot of computing power, they could put that power to other uses, too and be quite good in the Drone tree.
So.... in sum a possible set-up is this: the rockbugs are really good at what they know, but they don't look elsewhere very often. They hit fast and they hit hard but they aren't terribly accurate. They aren't made of paper. They like computers and heat-weapons, but remain horribly confused about big-guns reducing sections like shielding, torpedo, predictive gunnery, etc.
Terraforming.... maybe they aren't real good at it? There's lots of super-hot rocks lying around in space.
Sensors/spies-- they have to know what their target is doing to be able to jump in most effectively.
Slower research rate, because they want to make sure they're getting everything perfect?
....I just contradicted parts of my earlier post but this seems to make more sense, at least to me.
