When have phasers ever been observed to be lightspeed? The bulk of the visual evidence would indicate that they are distinctly sublight.
Phasers may not be lightspeed but they travel very fast. In episodes where starships fire at planets the beams make to surface from orbit almost instantly.
Yes, DS9:"Jem'hadar" shows one of the runabout's firing and missing a Jemmie bug with a phaser beam, at point blank range, just before it rams the Odyssey.
That was exception. Most of the time Starfleet phasers do hit their targets.
However a more relevant question is; Can you provide a single example of a Starfleet vessel hitting a target the size of an X-wing capable of accelerating at several thousand Gs?
I admit my mistake. I almost forgot how agile X-Wings are. That combined with their ECM would make them very difficult to hit.
For those talking about phaser accuracy, remember: phasers can only hit what sensors can see and target. All SW combat craft, including fighters, are equipped with some kind of electronic warfare equipment. An X-wing's jamming system will reduce phaser accuracy.
Considering the fact that Federation sensors have zero percent jamming tolerance their accuracy will be drasticaly reduced.
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
