I have not found cloaking to ever be useful, does anyone use it and if so how effective is it when compared to what you must give up for the space on your ship?
I might like having a perminent cloaking ship, and then having to equip other ships with equipment to see those cloaked ships.
The original design was for cloaking to be used in combination with repair modules, and the cautious order, so you could retreat and cloak, and get your ship repaired before returning to battle. It might be that this isn’t as effective as it needs to be, and I am toying with the idea of making repair modules work better or faster when the parent ship is cloaked.
If I’m not totally wrong, the cloacking happens pretty randomly. Could it be made so that cloacking happens after the ship has been damaged but before the repair modules get damaged? (In other words before the ship has taken too much damage and before the chances that repair modules get damaged too because of massive damages to the ship.)
Because if I’m not totally wrong, damaged or fully destroyed repair modules don’t work at all. 
If the cloacking happened more preciously this way cloacking could be made more useful and repairs could be made in somewhat more peaceful situation so the repairs actually do something.
But I haven’t played the so much, just a couple battles so I can be totally wrong too.
Directed to clifski:
I think that would make cloaking much more useful.
Just a question, can missiles still target cloacked ships? Just less accurate?
You can still target a cloaked ship, but the hit chance is reduced by 75%, so it’s just less likely. However, as I recall, a target painter will still enable a missile to hit a cloaked ship.
Another issue is that all missiles that are already inbound will still hit with the normal odds, so activating a cloak while under missile attack has only a delayed effect. You’ll often see a dozen or more hits come in against the cloaked ship because of this.
I think having a cloak should be it’s own “order.” Currently, I issue the “cautious” order and give my ship a cloak. Now it’s a nervous nellie that doesn’t want to enter battle. It cloaks 3 or 4 times before entering combat. Then it waits until the cloak and the repair bay are the only modules left and cloaks. Then it dies as missiles already in flight pummel it.
I think a ship that can cloak should cloak when its shields dip below 50%. Subsequently, it should cloak (if it can) whenever it takes armor damage. Shields can recharge very quickly, if given a chance. I think a cloak enabled ship that used the cloak to protect the shield could live 2x as long as a ship with a mere extra regular shield.
I think what we really need is a cautious order that keys off of shield level. That’s far, far more important than hull damage considering how monumental a difference it makes to lose your shields.