Because of how much technology has changed, much of the tech that is two or more levels under the current top tier is near useless.
Can you Devs make a tier selection tab in addition to the current sorting ability?
This would be an excellent addition for hull selection, ship weapon/armor/special selections, as well as base weapon/armor and special selection.
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This could be problematic, though, since there are a few low tier items that are still functional; like SFB(?) for missile range.