Lets say 10 NEW people come into the game & make a corp. They need to learn some Tech to get production rolling. All they will do is learn the main tech trees each.
Splitting bots into their own Tech tree wont make people do what they would do any way if this wasn't the case.
IMO each Faction mech Type should be within its own faction "branch" But in a section on its own, Like this:
Light Bot >>>>>> Assault >>>>> Mech >>>>>> Heavy Mech
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Light Ewar Mech Ewar
Each "Varient" light Ewar & Mech Ewar would have a research Point multiplier Over the T1 Version.