Roy Lewallen wrote:
Can someone please explain to me why a lower takeoff angle is better?

Quoting from an old ARRL Antenna Book:

"Rays entering the ionized region at angles above the critical
angle are not bent enough to be returned to Earth, and are lost
in space."

"A significant loss of signal occurs with each hop. ... Assuming
that both waves do reach the same point, the (one-hop) low-angle
wave will contain more energy" (than the two-hop higher angle wave).
--
73, Cecil, W5DXP