I suggest the survivability rate of defenses be lowered. Pretty simple and straightforward request, for look at the following:

I have attacked a neighbor of mine 4 times. He had the following defenses on my first attack:

Rocket Launcher 12 Light Laser 6
Heavy Laser 10 Gauss Cannon 4
Ion Cannon 10 Plasma Cannon 12
Small Shield Dome 1 Large Shield Dome 1
Antiballistic Missile 30 Interplanetary Missile 5

After my next 2 attacks his defenses have not been reduced by a single one, a fact which is quite unfair compared to the ships I've sacrificed in order to destroy them.

But consider this: multiply those numbers by one thousand. Now he loses about 3600 rocket launchers alone. It's all about percentages. They suck with the small guys, but eventually it's more of a pain for the defender.