Well Withering Fire still applies in space. If enough of you are firing lasers at capital ships the damage will start to pile on. One fighter on his own won't do much, but a bunch of them combining laser fire with torps will bring that cap ship down quite a bit quicker than with torps alone.

Sure, everyone should be firing their blasters, since even a little extra damage is helpful and does add up. However, as I said, I argue that it's best that the bombers not use their blasters until their torpedoes are within optimal range, allowing the blaster fire of their teammates to attract enemy fighters and their target cap ship's flak. The tactical usefulness, in this case, outweighs the small amount of extra damage you could be doing by starting your blaster fire earlier.

If a little stealth can help you get even 1 extra torpedo on target, then that makes up for probably at least 15 seconds of sustained close range blaster fire. What often happens from my experience is that the enemy cap ship doesn't even see me coming, often preoccupied with other targets or I approach from his blind side, and a significant number, if not all, of my torpedoes are away and dead on target by the time he notices me. If, on the other hand, I had started out firing my blasters from 1500-2500 meters in advance, I would have plenty of flak to welcome me once I closed within optimal torpedo range and I might not get all my torpedoes off or if I did, some might not be on target.