Why fleets needed smaller frigate-like ships

What kinds of ships filled the role before frigates, and why did navies need them?

As ships of the line grew larger, fleets still needed smaller, faster vessels for duties the big ships could no longer perform efficiently.

The age-of-sail problem resembles the later destroyer, sloop, corvette, and frigate sequence. Peacetime ships tend to grow because navies want more capability per hull, but that growth opens a gap below them. Frigate-built ships became important because their long, lower, gun-focused construction fed both independent cruising ships and the line-of-battle form. Ship size, personnel cost, gun layout, and the broadside doctrine that matured around battles such as the Downs all shaped the requirement.