a second damener is your best choice, you cant be all attack you need some defense modules,

shields arent really needed i have neer installed an actual shield module

you can never have too many cannons. helps with both pvp and npc, whereas dampeners rnt really necessary. dont install shields until at least rank 150, hull is better

i waited till rank 300 to start with defenses. i still dont have any shields at rank 325. cannons come first. ive had 8 cannons since rank 125.

At rank 108, I have 1 cannon, 1 dampener, and 1 shield on at all times, and 4-5 cannons and 1 dampener and 1 shield on for my attack config.

You shouldn't install shields at low ranks (unless you have obviation barriers). Have 5x Hull Platings instead, they are more efficient.

At your rank, if you have enough space to equip 5 cannons you may want to research your weapons tree.

the shield is the last thing out of those you want to put on tbh...get 5 of your best hulls on then research the next tier.
it really depends on your play style, the extra gun will help in pvp if people can see it, they may be put off of hitting you cos of a high number of guns.
the defence module means you take less damage per hit, useful in pvp and pve...just not as impressive to those that can see you.
the extra cannon will be better on a bang for buck basis...just make sure you have 5 hulls on

I have heavy shearers at rank 43. I run 2 and it gives me ample power.

Just a tip. To avoid confusion do not include dominion cannons in your cannon count. Put them separately.

They do not. They have a separate count. You can have 8 cannons + 4 dominions.

Um. As a friend of his, I can guarantee he isn't...

I'd get defences up - I'm pulling 210 defence from 36 space, plus a load of android helmsmen and dual-stat devices.

I'd say there's no point having tonnes of hull if you take massive hits every attack. People are far more likely to give up if they're doing 30-50 damage against someone with a weak hull than if they're dealing 100-200 damage against someone with a strong hull.

Guns are the most helpful for killing NPC's and invading, although at your level it's still cost-effective to swap them in and out as needed. Load up big energy reactors and then just move atk/def items around as needed. Hull is more valuable than shields since repairing is so cheap at your stage of things.