The nice thing about the Raider, I think, is that it can adjust its job very easily. Build a Raider-II with the Instigator title and Overload Impulse, and that's about all you need. If your opponent brings fighters, the Raider can tie them up and hit them while your Imps go to work. Alternatively, if your opponent brings no squadrons, you can have the Raider tag-team with one of your Imps, increasing their effectiveness.

It's sorta like playing rock-paper-scissors, and having both rock and scissors at the same time.

I agree. Out-of-the-box, it's immediately good at two things: shooting squadrons (2 black dice/1 black, 1 blue), and quick flanks (speed 4 + black/blue dice). For 44 points, this is fabulous value. At 39/44 points, a CR-90 is good for flanking... and never gets good at anti-squadron. A 51 point Neb-B is good at sniping, and a 56 point Glad is good at flanking and brawling (for a short period of time), but neither gets respectable anti-squadron fire until 57 and 62 (13 and 18 points more than a Raider, respectively).

The Raider can also be easily customized to fit either role (anti-squadron or flanker) easily, and with an ion slot can also take on a third: mid-ranged disabler. For 8 points (Overload Pulse), a Raider can soften up a meatier target. For 9 points, it can take an anti-Squadron title + Quad Lasers to increase its potent anti-squadron capabilities. And for 11-12, it can increase its offensive firepower against enemy ships (Ordnance Experts + ACMs/Rapid Reload). None of these refits on a Raider I are more expensive than a naked Gladiator I.

Yep. And you get the bonus of better speed, and two evade tokens to keep you alive at further range. Those two evade tokens are probably the main reason I'll be running this ship as a mid-ranged disabler. With the brace and two evades, you're pretty tough to kill at that range, even if you do find yourself in an enemy's crosshairs. And, with your speed and maneuverability, you're likely to not stay in those crosshairs to give them a second chance.

Another reason I like the mid-ranged disabler build is that, with Screed, it allows you to hit from any of your hull zones but the rear one. You can even use it to disable two enemy ships if you had to at medium range: Concentrate Fire to give you an extra blue on your side arc (since you need minimum 1 blue and one other die to Screed-crit) and then your front arc hits another ship. Even easier at short range, but I wouldn't want to be in short because you lose your evades' usefulness.