High wake is extremely useful and not a bugged mechanic. Mines are also extremely useful but not a guarantee. The NPCs that come after me in missions are high ranked. My remarks come strictly from personal experience. I'm not sure what you want but it almost sounds like you feel NPCs should never pose a threat. Now that would be terrible design choice.
No Offense but No.
High Waking not being Affected was likely not Intended. It was likely overlooked because it became a Standart to use it for Escape and then just left this Way.
To be Precise it was likely never Intended for NPCs to Follow you into another Battle after you Low Waked. They only Implemented this after seeing Players doing it. And then Decided to have NPCs do this as well.
Because as I said. If FD had Intended for us to High Wake out of an System in Combat in they would have Included an Emergency Jump Button giving you an Escape Vector to Approach.
Currently you Literally have to work around this Mechanic.
Because you cannot have 2 Points Selected at the same Time. For this to be on a Button you do need to have an Route to An System where you dont actually want to do. Meaning you have to use an Different Mechanic in a Way where this Mechanic is not actually Intended to be used. To Circumvent another Game Mechanic that otherwise would be Preventing you from High Waking under Fire.
And well Mate.
See here is the Problem with Game Design.
Game Design tends to be something that Relies on not only One Part. But on the Entire System to Work together.
In This Game Unfortunately. Strong NPCs are something Completely Opposed to the Remaining Systems.
The Entire Game Design of FD is not Laid out for Combat at all. Much less for Dangerous Combat where the Player can actually Die unless doing very very stupid Mistakes.
Let me give you some Examples here to Break to you why this Game Design is Completely Wrong for what you apparently think should be the Case.
First.
Majority of Weapons are Instant Impact Short Range Guns.
Meanwhile Ships are Laid out entirely for Maneuverability and Frontal Weaponry.
But this is an Incredible Poor Combination in itself. Because most of the Weapons make it entirely Ridiculous to Rely on Maneuverability.
However what is even worse. Is that these Weapon Create an Natural Rift between NPCs and Human Players.
Because these Weapons will ALWAYS hit If you Press Fire in the Right moment. There is no Evasion from something that Hits you the Moment its Fired.
And here a Human can never Beat a Machine. Because the Machine Triggers the Firing Button when it Hits. Meaning an NPC has no Skills involved here. He simply has an Set Chance of either Hit or Miss which is Hard Scripted.
Meanwhile a Human needs to have the Timing Right. Depending on his Surroundings and other Factors his Hit Rate will Vary Heavily. But most of all no matter how Good he is. its almost Impossible for him to Archieve 100% Hit Ratio even for a Short Period of Time. Because he will always miss the Timing or the Chance to Fire at all sometimes.
This is where Projectile Weapons and High Range Combat would have been not only an much more Logical Choice given that even Modern Weapons got way more than 4km Range. But would also have been an Highly Better Choice for Fights against NPCs and for the Ship Styles used.
Because this way it would make Sense using Maneuverable Ships as they can Evade Shells after they were Fired. Meaning their Maneuverability and Speed would actually Serve a Purpose. And not just turn it into an Circle Flying where everyone tries to get to each others But.
Most of all however. This would mean that the NPCs would require actual Skills that Good Players can Compete with.
Because Just Pressing the Fire Button while the Aiming Circle is on the Enemy would not Guarantee a Hit.
Meaning that the Player would have Chances to Evade an NPC even if that NPC is Scripted to get the Timing 100% Right each time.
Thats why I said several times in the past.
That for example the Combat and Flight Controls in War Thunder. Are much much more Refined and Dynamic than anything you find in Elite Dangerous.
That however is also why War Thunder is Struggling to get NPCs up to a Shape where they Pose an Real Challenge to Skilled Pilots. Because thanks to this System. They are Forced to really try and give these NPCs Skills. Rather than just Setting the Hit Chance to 100% like its done in Elite Dangerous.
Second.
The Rebuy and Prices Raise.
In Elite Dangerous. The Rebuy Cost Depends on the Value of your Ship.
That in itself is Fine.
But the Values of the Ships are Ridiculous.
Because the Money Value of a Ship rises roughly 5-8 Times Faster than its Value for Player Tasks.
Lets make an Extreme Example.
An Properly Equipped Viper Costs roughly 2 Million Credits.
An Properly Equipped Vulture easily Costs 20-30 Million Credits.
Meaning that its Money Value is 10 Times that of an Viper.
But now do you think that a Vulture should be Worth anything close to this ?
Imagine 10 Fair Skilled Vipers vs 1 Fair Skilled Vulture in Combat, In Trading, In Exploration or in anything else.
And no matter what you do. You will notice 10 Vipers are Superior.
Even 5 Vipers would be Superior.
This is Intended of course.
Because this is the Grinding Curve of the Game.
Yep. This Game works by an Grinding Curve that is Designed in the same way as World of Warcraft.
Meaning that they must Ensure that you on lvl 3 get to lvl 4 really really fast. While the Step from lvl 25 to lvl 26 needs to go very long.
So when you lvl up from Viper mk3 to Viper mk4 your Usefulnes goes up by maybe 10-15% while the Required Money for the Next Level goes up by 50-100%
Thats why from Imperial Clipper to Python your Usefulness for any Job goes up by about 20% while the Value of your Ship Raises by way more than 100% already.
From Python to Anaconda the Change is even more Sick. Your Usefulness takes another Step of 20-30% but your Value Increase goes up by more than 300%
This however also means. That if you Die on a Higher Level you Also lose much more.
And here comes the Problem.
An Python Player can make roughly 20-30% more Money per Hour than a Vulture.
But If both are Equally well Equipped. The Python Pays 300-500% of the Insurance.
So an Python Player Dying needs 5-8 Times as long as an Vulture Player to Replace his Losses.
Despite him not really being that much Stronger.
This System is for a Reason Used in pretty much every Theme Park MMORPG out there.
Meanwhile if you take a Look. The Harder MMORPGs where the Enemies you meet are actually an Challenge and might get you down even in a Normal Fight.
The Value you Invested usually also Reflects the Usefulness of your Investment.
Thats why in World of Warcraft. The Highest Sword which has 10% more Damage than the Second Highest Sword costs 200% of the Second Highest Sword.
While in a Hardcore Game like Dark Souls for example. The Sword which has like 10% more Damage only costs about 20% more than the other one.
And this is also why in this Game the Vast Majority of PvPers will use a Vulture rather than an Anaconda.
Because Risking 30 Times the Value for maybe 3 Times the Usefullness makes no Sense.
See Mate.
This Games Entire Design. Is laid out for an Theme Park MMO where you Spend your Time Grinding.
But this also Means you need Enemies that you can Grind.
If you want to Implement Enemies which are Posing an Dynamic Challenge. And which are Posing an Actual Threat rather than being Meat for the Grinder.
You would need to Go away from this Grinding System and actually give Things a Value which Represents their actual Usefullnes.
Attempting to Put Threatening NPC Encounters into an Grinding Game. Results in what you Saw right after 2.1 was Released.
Popularity of Elite Dangerous Fell through the Floor by more than 10% on Steam. And Tons of People came to the Forum because they kept Losing Money Faster than they could even Earn it.
And here comes the next Shortcoming of ED.
The Complete Lack of an Properly Crafted Learning Curve.
Currently the only Chance many Users have to actually get up the Required Skills and Knowledge is to Check Out of the Game Sources like the Forum or the Wiki.
Meaning that anyone who just Plays the Game. Will not be able to actually Play.
And this is another Fallacy you often see in this Forum.
When People Complain here. More Experienced Players come around to give them Tips.
But Players needing to Explain this already means the Game Failed. The Game was unable to Teach the Player how it needs to be Played.
The Mines you Suggest are an Good Example.
Because Many Players here say. Use Mines.
Something the Game never even tells you about.
But worse. Something that needs more Knowledge you cannot get easily. (And which is Partially Bugged) Because Mines need to be Installed on Certain Slots. Otherwise they just get Scrapped by your own Ship and never reach the Enemy.
No Offense Mate.
But Putting NPCs into this Game. Which Pose an Actual threat to the Player.
Is an Complete No Go with the Current Systems. It only Reduces the Playerbase and causes Content of this game to be Shunned away from Players which are not Interested in Combat but are constantly Forced into it.
If you Really wanted to get NPCs up to an Level where its posing a Threat. You would need to Change the Entire System of Elite Dangerous.
Away from the Current Theme Park Grinding MMO System. To an System working more like that of Hardcore Games like Mortal Online. Where the Value of your Stuff. Actually Represents how Useful it is.
Greetz Sun